Yuletide Lessons
by NIchiki
Summary: She made it her mission to make their first Christmas the best one they would ever have. (Cover by my imouto Mari-channn! She's so awesome!)
1. Chapter 1

Yuletide Lessons

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Fairy Tail, but I would love to!

AN: A heartwarming Christmas story!

And before anyone points it out, yes I've changed a few things like making Fro into a girl because it fit with my story and

BECAUSE I CAN! lol

Enjoy!

December 11th

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><p>The streets of Magnolia were rather quiet considering it was the middle of the day, but the huge blanket of white snow prevented most from doing anything besides going out to enjoy it. At least that was one of the reasons a certain blonde insisted as she twirled in the flurries gently coming down. She giggled and the quiet young man walking beside her, who couldn't help but quirk his lips in a small smile. Lucy was much like a child in her excitement and it was hard not to get caught up in her giddiness. He did make a good attempt though, but most of the times he was still dragged along with her nutty ideas. He was usually one to just watch from the sidelines most times. The one who watched others having fun and find his own sort of piece through others enjoyment. But with her he couldn't just sit on the sidelines, she would always make an effort to drag him into it and participate, whether he wanted to or not. She made it to where you couldn't help but have fun around her and he found himself willing to shed the shy exterior he usually had just to please her.<p>

Lucy snatched Frosch out of the air and twirled her around in a circle laughing as the exceed shrieked happily. Rogue stood there watching, his hands shoved into his pockets to ward off the cold as the two most important people in his life frolicked in the snow, aside from Sting and his exceed of course. It was a rather endearing sight to see and if he didn't know any better they would've looked like a mother and child bonding and he had a fleeting thought as he stood there if he looked like a father. The thought caught him off guard for a moment, bringing a small flush to his cheeks at the thought of the petite blond swollen with his child and one hanging on her hip crossed his mind. Rogue couldn't believe such a thought warmed his body and let loose a fluttering feeling into his gut. He'd never thought about such things before meeting her, no woman inspired such ideas, but lately he was being bombarded with the idea that having a family would bring him happiness. That having a family with her would be a dream come true. He honestly couldn't see himself with anyone else, she was the exact opposite of him and yet they seemed to fit together so seamlessly, like a puzzle.

"Ro?" Lucy's voice interrupted his thoughts as she laid a hand along his arm drawing his gaze to hers. He coughed awkwardly and looked up into the frozen sky embarrassed he was caught staring at her.

She smiled seeing the pink dusting his cheeks as he tried to valiantly look anywhere but at her. Lucy hugged Fro to her chest as she tugged on his sleeve, leading him around the town square, looking in brightly colored windows at all the displays.

"Come on, Frosty."

He tilted his head in confusion, letting her lead him for a minute only to speed up to walk beside her, making sure to keep as little space between them as possible. He may not say a whole lot, but he more than made up for it with subtle touches and lingering looks. In his case actions did speak louder than words and if you were in their presence for more than a few minutes you would see just how much he cared about the Celestial Mage. Slowly but surely she encouraged him to open up to her and he could honestly say he felt more at ease around her then before. He sure hoped so anyway.

Lucy laughed, a puff of air billowing out and he couldn't help thinking just how beautiful she looked even bundled up like a marshmallow with her cheeks and nose red from the cold.

"You know, Frosty. Like from Frosty the Snowman."

He blinked.

"The children's movie?"

He raised a brow.

She froze, a sad frown on her face. "Ok, now you're officially making me sad here."

He started, confused even further. "How am I doing that?"

"Because, you haven't seen Frosty and that's like a right of passage for a kid."

"It is?"

Lucy smiled and looped her arm through his as they strolled, leaning her head on his shoulder, before suddenly popping back up with an excited squeal.

"Oh I've got it, when we get back to my place we are going to have a Christmas movie marathon."

"Yay," Fro squealed, throwing her arms up in the air, before frowning and letting them drop, looking over to Rogue. "What's 'kwist-mas' Rogue?" The hood on her frog suit was blown back suddenly by a gust of wind and she looked so cute staring at them with her scrunched up face.

He scratched his chin looking sheepish. "Erm.."

"Gah, you two! Looks like I'm gonna have to give you a crash course in Christmas." She puffed up in importance.

Rogue turned to look at her, his lips quirked as she listed things off they would do or need for this crash course.

"Lets see," She turned to look at the stores around them in thought, Fro perched on her head as she ticked things off for an imaginary list in her mind.

"We are going to need popcorn, string..."

"Oooh, Fro loves popcorn!"

"What's the string for?" Rogue asked.

She smiled. "That is for the popcorn. You use it to string it around the tree."

A frown creased his face as he pictured popcorn strung around a tree and shook his head. "Why would you put popcorn on a tree?"

She laughed seeing his confused face. "It's originally used for outdoor trees. Like we would also put nuts and berries on them so the birds and other animals have something to eat during the winter months. It was a foreign tradition originally, but we added the popcorn bit later on."

He nodded in understanding. "What else do you do during Christmas?" He was rather intrigued with the holiday now that someone took the time to explain it properly. In truth he hadn't ever really cared about something like Christmas, thinking it trivial and dismissed it not knowing what it was. Besides, he'd heard it was a celebration for family, and since he really didn't have one, he never really bothered to find out more about it.

Lucy looked thoughtful before she spotted something and grabbed his arm, dragging him to a display window.

"See those?" She said pointing to the brightly colored boxes stacked in an interesting way.

He nodded and Fro clapped her hands in delight. "Fro thinks those are pretty!"

Lucy tilted her head as she attempted to look at the cat leaning over her forehead. "They are, aren't they? Those are presents. During Christmas we pick out things for people and wrap them up to put under the tree so we can exchange them on Christmas morning."

Fro's little mouth went into an 'o' as she pressed her paws to the glass and squashed her nose against it in awe, barely staying on Lucy's head.

"Hmm, so it's sort of like how you guys celebrate your birthdays then?" Rogue asked, scratching his chin in thought.

"Sort of. Except on birthdays only the person whose birthday it is gets the gifts. On Christmas everyone gets them. The fun of it is to find the perfect gift for people and of course the wrapping!"

"You mean the pretty paper around the boxes?" Fro asked settling on Lucy's shoulder.

"That's right. There's so much you can do to make them beautiful and unique."

"Sounds like a good excuse to shop to me." He chuckled as she laughed softly.

"Well it kind of is, but for me it's different." Her face turned wistful as she trailed a finger down the display window, not really seeing the presents anymore. "I can remember the excitement I felt as a small child, when my mother was still alive, during the holidays. How she put such enthusiasm into whatever she did that just made everything more fun. For our small family we treasured our times together."

She sighed. "I know people all think the Heartfilia's were about nothing but money, but that's not true at all. Momma was never consumed with money and only used it to lavish gifts to the people she loved, making sure they never wanted for anything. Even the people who worked for us received extravagant gifts and were always invited to our house for Christmas dinner. There was no distinction between people with us. If they were someone we loved, they mattered, period. Even if we didn't know you, she wouldn't hesitate to give you something, didn't matter who you were." Her voice turned sad as she frowned looked up into Rogues eyes. "I know my father turned cold after momma died, but the way he acted wasn't him, not the true him. And I like to remember how it was before when momma was still alive." She turned her saddened gaze to the sky and sighed wistfully. "I only hope he managed to find his smile again before he died, so when he saw Momma again she would be happy."

Rogue regarded her silently, hearing the sad undertones of what she was saying and thread his fingers through her gloved ones. He knew the subject of her mother and father was a bittersweet one and felt the warmness flood his stomach as she turned her gaze to him and squeezed his hand with a sad smile. He could relate with his father. It was still a painful memory and he hated to think about it, but with Lucy she seemed to soothe those old wounds and made them more tolerable. Fro seemed to understand Lucy's need for comfort as she wrapped her little paws around the blonde's neck making her giggle softly, breaking the sadness surrounding her.

"So, what else is there to do on this holiday?" He asked, changing the subject so she wouldn't dwell on the negative.

Lucy smiled, knowing what he was doing as she continued the list.

"Well, we will need decorations for the tree. Ornaments, lights, perhaps some garland."

"Garr-land?" Fro asked.

"Yeah," Lucy chirped, spreading her hands out in excitement. "It's this really shiny stuff that looks like the boas some women wrap around their shoulders."

"Ooooh."

Rogue laughed seeing the starry eyed look in his partner's eyes.

"Don't worry, you'll get to help pick out the decorations." Lucy said.

"Lets see what else." She grabbed his arm and walked down the street pausing at another display. "Ooh, we can get some cookie dough to make some gingerbread men."

She laughed seeing both of their confused faces. "They are little men made of gingerbread, really yummy. And we will need to get some eggnog, because the stuff we'll have at the guild's Christmas party will most likely be spiked if Cana has any say in it. So, I want you two to taste the stuff without the booze in it."

"Lucy, whats egg-nawg?" Fro asked.

"Oh, it's this really sweet, creamy drink made from milk and eggs and other stuff. Here, I need to pick up a few things anyway so we can get some right now and have it back at my place." She said leading them into a corner market, grabbing a basket as she wandered to the back of the store where the dairy was. Immediately music assaulted his sensitive ears as he followed behind her, something about a 'White Christmas' holding the door open for her as she mumbled and sifted through the various cartons.

Fro plopped onto Rogues shoulder as she had her attention riveted on the blond, her eyes wide much to his amusement. He knew he probably had much the same look on his face as he took in everything around him, marveling as he listened to Lucy describing what they would need for which dish, soaking it all in. Rogue was an avid learner and loved to discover new things and he found that learning from Lucy was indeed fruitful.

"Here," She said presenting a colorful carton for their eyes. "This is eggnog."

Both Fro and Rogue sniffed curiously at the carton and Lucy giggled as she saw the dreamy look pass over Fro's features. She had a feeling the little exceed would fall in love with it seeing that it has milk, cream and sugar in it and wondered if the cat would go into a sugar induced coma after her first sip.

"This kind has a bit of cinnamon in it. There are others with different spices and flavors like peppermint and pumpkin added for flavor. The drink was originally made to have alcohol in it, but I've always been partial to the stuff without it." She explained.

Lucy handed the carton to Rogue and watched as he turned it this way and that studying it intensely, almost like he would a book before grabbing the basket on her arm and putting it inside, settling it on his arm instead. The action rose a brow on the blond, but smiled anyway and continued shopping, heading for the dried goods. She wandered down the aisles and immediately zeroed in on some boxes, latching onto a couple and comparing them side by side.

Rogue stepped up behind her and looked over her shoulder, the boxes in her hands showed a cup of something dark and at first he thought it was coffee, but the words on the front said 'Hot Chocolate.'

"What are those Lucy?" Fro pointed to the boxes as she leaned over in curiosity.

Lucy turned towards them and beamed. "This my dear friends is what I call seduction in a cup, 'cause one cup will have you falling head over heels for it!" She laughed as Rogue looked thoughtful and Fro seemed to be enamored with the box.

Lucy handed one to the exceed watching as Fro handled it with extreme care, like it was made of glass and would break any minute. "That is hot chocolate. It can be mixed with hot water or hot milk, but I prefer milk. Makes it taste better in my opinion." She shrugged.

"Whats the difference between these two?" Rogue asked.

"This one has double chocolate, and that one" she pointed to the one in Fro's hands, "has mini marshmallows in it."

Fro immediately latched on tighter to the box. "Fro wants these. Can Fro have these, please!?"

Rogue chuckled at the pleading look as Lucy smiled. "Of course you can have those silly! We can make some tonight while we watch the movies."

She tapped her chin as she thought for a moment. "Oh right. If we want to make some gingerbread men I'll need some ingredients. Let's see, I have most of the basics for cooking so all I will need is some nutmeg, ground cloves, some molasses, some vanilla flavoring and some icing." Lucy browsed the cooking ingredients and began piling different items into the basket. "Or if you want, since we are making the cookies from scratch, I could make some frosting from scratch also. Homemade stuff is just better in my opinion." She grabbed a couple of bags of powdered sugar to add to the pile and giggled as two noses twitched in interest.

"Now, no opening that until we need to," She said poking Fro's nose softly, the cats eyes crossing as she smiled cutely. "It's really fine sugar and gets everywhere and super hard to manage if you spill it."

Rogue nodded sagely. "Ahh, so I'll be the one handling it then right?"

Lucy tilted her head. "Why is that?"

"Because you're the queen at spilling things." He grinned at her pouty frown.

"Oh, I do not." She said puffing up her cheeks pouting. "That was only a few things that one time and I'm normally very careful. I was just extremely tired that day."

He arched a brow. "Mhmm, right."

She stuck her tongue at at him, repressing the smile that threatened to break out as she turned away spotting the candy aisle letting out an excited noise as her eyes darted to and fro.

"Oooh look guys," She said excitedly, holding up a box. "I haven't seen this in ages! It's called ribbon candy and it comes in all different types of flavors shaped to look like ribbons."

"Hence the name." Rogue offered.

"Yup!" She said focusing back on the candy selection. "Oh, here we go."

Fro popped up and hovered near the blond, her hands still clutching on the hot chocolate box as she saw the blond picking up white and red striped sticks.

"What are those?"

Rogue inhaled briefly as he stepped up next to the blond. "Peppermint."

"Yup, that's right. These are called Candy Canes and we hang these on the tree also." She handed one to the exceed and watched as she smelled it and hugged it to her chest along with the box.

Lucy turned back to the shelves. "Now, to see if they have- aha!" She exclaimed grabbing a few bars and piling those into the basket before holding one up to show them. "This is peppermint bark. Usually its only made of peppermint pieces, but the ones I like have chocolate on the bottom, makes it taste so much better."

"I hope we aren't going to eat all of this in one day." Rogue mused, studying a bar of the candy confection.

"Oh heavens no! We would get such a bad tummy ache." She laughed, leading them to the register, pulling things out of the basket for the cashier to ring up and gently explaining that they had to pay for the stuff and then Fro could have them back. Seeing Fro about to tear up she settled on a compromise and plopped the exceed down with the items still in her arms, giving the cashier a good laugh, who was probably used to little kids doing the same thing.

"Not to mention the sugar induced coma we would have." She giggled grabbing the bags, seeing Fro hovering with her prizes in her paws, only to have Rogue lift the bags from her hands to his making her sigh and lead the way out of the shop.

Fro settled herself into the blonde's arms as they trudged through the snow back to Lucy's apartment. "There's so much to show you guys that it's hard to decide what to do first. But I think starting with hot chocolate and some movies will help you get into the festive mood and it might explain a few things as well."

Rogue walked closer to the blond seeing her shiver. "I never knew this 'Christmas' was so complicated."

"Oh no its not really complicated at all!" She sputtered. "There's just a lot of different things to do to celebrate, but we don't have to do everything, only the things that appeal to you guys." She offered.

Fro frowned looking up at the blond. "But Fro wants to learn everything about 'kwist-mas'," her little face screwed up under her adorable frog costume as she tried to say the name.

Rogue nodded, reaching out to pat the cat's frog covered head fondly, his gaze soft as he looked from the exceed to the blond. "Then we will need to be good students and learn everything we can from Lucy in order to understand this holiday that means so much to her."

Fro nodded in agreement.

Lucy blushed. "I will do my very best to be a good teacher for you guys then." She turned her gaze back up to his, determination shining in her eyes. "I will make this the best Christmas I can for you guys, I promise!"

"We know you will, Lucy and we thank you." He replied softly, his fingers tangling in some blonde hair briefly, warming her cheeks again.

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><p>(¯`¥´¯`·.¸.:¨NIchiki ¨:.¸.·´¯`¥´¯)<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Yuletide Lessons

Chapter 2

December 12th

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><p>The trio burst through the door of Lucy's apartment in a flurry of bags, all heaving a collective sigh.<p>

Rogue grunted as he set the bags on the table smiling as Frosch settled next to them, sifting through the contents humming one of the many holiday songs she heard in the store. Lucy shucked her boots and hung up her coat, scarf, and mittens approaching the bags, bringing things out and examined them.

As Lucy sorted the groceries, Rogue stood by the table and studied them more closely now that he was able to.

"Hey, how about we make that hot chocolate now Fro?" Lucy asked, patting the little exceeds head.

She smiled up at Lucy and at Rogue's nod she nodded as well.

"Fro would like that."

Alrighty then." Lucy moved to the cupboards and brought out two normal sized mugs and one small child sized one, then brought out a small jug of milk from the fridge and turned back to the two watching her movements. "You guys wanna help me make it?"

"Fro does!" She said jumping up on the counter beside the mugs with a paw in the air.

Rogue shook his head with a small smile moving to stand next to the exceed. "I'll just observe."

Lucy nodded as she turned back to the excited cat. "Ok, so the first thing we do is pour milk in each of the mugs." Lucy contemplated what she could have her do and thought the milk jug looked a little big next to her small body and would probably be a little awkward to handle. Her eyes landed on the box still in the cats hands and a light bulb went off in her head.

"How about I pour the milk and after we heat it up you can put the mix in?"

The cat nodded as Lucy placed the mugs in the microwave and punched in a minute on the timer. The blond smiled as her reflection was joined by a smaller one on the microwave door, Fro's little mouth hung open in an adorable 'o' as she watched the mugs go round and round. At the sound of the ding, Lucy popped open the door and placed the steaming mugs down, reaching for the box the cat set on the counter. She tore open 3 packets and handed them each to the cat along with spoons.

"Ok, all you have to do is pour each mix into the mugs and then stir until it's all dissolved in the milk."

"You can count on Fro."

All the while Rogue stood back watching the two interact with each other, barely containing a smile at the concentrated look on the cats face as she stirred the mix in. She looked so entranced with the steaming liquid for a minute and then squeaked as she pointed, noticing something.

"Fro wants to know what those white things are." Lucy giggled as Rogue bent over to observe.

"I do believe those are the mini marshmallows the box listed." He said.

"Oooh."

Fro clutched the candy cane absently in her hands, sniffing at the liquid bringing another idea to Lucy.

"Oh, hey guys." They both turned to look at her as she rummaged through the bag containing various candies she picked up and brought out two candy canes. "These will give the cocoa a nice minty taste."

Lucy unraveled the clear wrapping on one and slipped it in one of the mugs, stirring the liquid a little and did the same to the other. Fro looked from what Lucy was doing to the candy cane in her hands and started to mimic her actions, albeit a bit more clumsily. After a few minutes she managed to get it unwrapped and slipped it in carefully, looking up to smile proudly at her accomplishment.

"Very good Frosch." Rogue stated, stroking the cats head softly.

"Good for you. You've made your first cup of hot cocoa you two. Your first step towards your very first Christmas."

Both Rogue and Fro smiled in response.

Lucy clapped her hands in delight. "Now, for the fun part." At their confused faces she giggled, placing each mug into their hands. "Drinking the yummy concoction of course."

Grabbing her own she blew gently on the still steaming mug and watched as they both did the same, their noses twitching at the interesting smells. Lucy took a small sip and sighed in delight as the hot liquid warmed her insides and the cool peppermint floated over her senses. Lucy gestured to the two in front of her. "Go ahead you guys, it won't bite."

They both looked at the other uncertain for a minute and then took small sips, both jerking back at the myriad of tastes on their tongues.

Fro's eyes were huge as she stared into her mug and then looked up.

"Fro loves it!"

Rogue chuckled thinking along the same lines as Lucy giggled in response. "Glad to hear it Fro." She turned to Rogue in question. "It's very good." He replied.

"Excellent."

"Now," she said setting her mug aside as she dug out another box, opening it and brought out a package. "I think I'll make us some popcorn so we can munch on it while we watch movies."

"Sounds good." Rogue replied.

She popped the package in the microwave, pushed the button marked popcorn and made her way into the living room, kneeled on the floor and proceeded to dig through her rather large collection of dvds.

"I didn't realize I had so many Christmas movies," she muttered absently hearing the ding of the microwave, she stood up and walked past Rogue and Fro as they looked at the pile on the floor. "Go ahead and see which of those you guys wanna watch, while I put the popcorn into a bowl."

Fro set her drink down and hopped over to the pile, her little paws picking up the cases and turning them over, studying them. Rogue sat down next to her and picked up a few of his own to look at. One with a huge white tree caught his eye and peered at it curiously, the title 'White Christmas' stared back at him as he noticed some people dressed in white and red in various positions around a rather large tree decked out with various ornaments. His vision was obscured by another case being shoved in front of his eyes.

"Rogue?" He looked down to see Fro presenting another movie to hm. "Fro wants to know what this says."

Rogue took the DVD and looked at the front seeing a green sort of being dressed much like some of the men on the one he'd just been looking at. This red sort of suit with white trimming and matching hat seemed to be some sort of trend and therefore important to the Christmas holiday. Fro settled into his lap and he turned it to the back to read the description.

"Well, it looks like the green fellow on the cover is the star and he's called the Grinch. He lives in a cave high up above who-ville.."

"Rogue, what's who-ville?"

Scratching his head he tried to explain from the details on the back.

"Well, I'm guessing it's a village of some sort with people called 'Whos'. Once a year they celebrate this thing called Christmas making the Grinch jealous and angry that he cannot join in the festivities and vows to 'steal' Christmas as it were so they won't be able to celebrate."

Fro frowned and crossed her paws across her chest, tilting her head to study the pictures on the case. "Oooh. So what happens then?"

"That my little one is a secret and you'll have to find out by watching it." Lucy said settling the popcorn on her coffee table joining the duo on the floor. "That was an excellent explanation of the movie Rogue, especially since you're only going off what the case says." She complimented and noticed the other one in his hand.

"Oh, that one is one of my absolute favorites," she said, studying the front. "It's about this duo of singers who met while in the military and formed an act after they got out and were tricked into meeting another singing duo along the way, this one of two beautiful women. While on the road they find the general they served under who ended up owning a lodge after he retired and they all find themselves at the same lodge. But you see the lodge wasn't doing so well on account of there hardly being any snow so they were suffering financially, but the general is too proud to ask for anyone's help."

"So the duo tries to help the general out behind his back, but a lot of things go wrong along the way. Anyways, the explanation isn't as good as really watching it, so we can watch this one after the Grinch." She looked up and started laughing at the two confused looks they were giving her. "Come on, lets just watch these movies and I'll answer any questions along the way, ok?"

Rogue nodded as he scooped Fro in his arms and settled on the couch, both with their mugs as Lucy popped the first movie in, moving to sit next to them, pressing play.

The Grinch wasn't a long movie but it was rather entertaining how engrossed Fro seemed to get with every minute and even though it was geared more towards children Rogue still paid attention to everything.

"So the moral of the story was that it isn't about the presents or the feasts or having big parties. It's about spending time with the ones you love. That's why the Grinch's heart grew at the end and he became a nice person. He realized the true meaning of Christmas."

Fro nodded as Rogue contemplated her explanation, adding more and more to the list of things that revolved around the holiday called Christmas.

"Alright onto the next one!"

'White Christmas'

"Fro thinks the costumes are really pretty!"

"They are indeed something to behold."

"Yeah, that's just how fancy dance numbers seemed to be in the old days. It's one of the things I adore about that time period."

'It's a Wonderful Life'

"Oh wow the pool was under the gym the whole time! Fro loves swimming!"

"So, this angel in training is showing this man how the world would be if he'd never been born?"

"Yeah, I know I've always been curious as how different everything would be without me. This way, the angel gives him a sort of shock treatment and saves his life in the process."

'Christmas Vacation'

"Fro wants our tree to be that big."

"So, am I to assume that cat is no longer..." He paused seeing the frown on Fro's little face. "He certainly put a lot of lights on the house didn't he?"

"Would certainly say so since he blew out all electricity in the area. Oh yeah, my favorite part has to be the chase with the squirrel and the dog through the house, classic."

'Frosty'

"Can all snowmen get up and walk around just because of a hat?"

"Ahh, so that's the 'Frosty' you mentioned earlier."

"It's so sad when he starts melting away, but then I remember that he always comes back next Christmas."

'The Nightmare Before Christmas'

"Oooh, look at all the scary monsters. The skeletons doggy is see through!"

"Oh I see. Behind each door is a different town based on other holidays. I never knew there were so many."

"I love how the Halloween people try to make Christmas presents with scary stuff. It's definitely different from the norm."

'The Muppets Christmas Carol'

"Hey, there's other animals walking and talking just like me in this one!"

"Most definitely an unpleasant gentleman to be around. I can see how the spirits have their work cut out for them."

"My most favorite spirit is the present. His jolly attitude is so infectious."

'Home Alone'

"Wow, that's a pretty big family. How come they are all so mean to the little guy?"

"So, in their rush they overlook the child and don't even realize it until halfway to their destination? Not exactly good examples of parenthood."

"You've gotta love the elaborate plans the little boy makes to utterly own these crooks. Nothing like being bested by a little boy to really make you feel like a man."

'A Christmas Story'

"Wow, how many coats does that little boy have on? Fro is surprised he can even move."

"So, the young man is wishing for a BB gun for Christmas and at every turn is someone saying no for various reasons. I've got to say giving someone of his age a pellet gun would make me nervous as well."

"Fraaageeeleeeey… Hahaha. I love how important he tries to make that lamp seem just to show it off to the neighborhood. One of these days I want to get one for myself and put it in the window."

It went this way 'til the wee hours of the early morning, popping in movie after movie, Rogue devouring each tale eagerly. But Lucy stated they had more than enough time to watch them all before the fateful day, and they couldn't possibly watch them all in one day, she said jokingly. She had fallen asleep halfway through 'A Christmas Story' along with Fro, cuddling on the sofa under a big blanket while Rogue's attention stayed riveted on the flickering screen. It was coming close to dawn as he flipped the tv off and turned his gaze to the two with a smile. He moved to tuck the blanket in around them and settled in against the other arm of the couch figuring he should get a few hours of rest before the next days events. The last image flickering across his vision was of Fro burying her face in Lucy's neck as she dreamed of the many things they watched on tv that night. The happy contented smile of the cat mixed with the serene one on the blonde filled his mind and calmed his soul.

'That's a sight I wouldn't mind seeing everyday.'

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><p>(¯`¥´¯`·.¸.:¨NIchiki ¨:.¸.·´¯`¥´¯) <p>


	3. Chapter 3

Yuletide Lessons

Chapter 3

December 13th

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><p>"Lets see decorations... decorations… ah here we go. Aisle 3 back of the store."<p>

Lucy said pointing in the distance. The trio strolled through the store, festive music piped through the speakers and Rogue found himself humming along absently, a feeling of contentment rose within his chest successfully startling himself for a moment. He'd never really felt such a feeling before and it surprised him how easily it seemed to wash over him, and he'd never really noticed. But he wasn't satisfied not knowing what had caused it, so like with everything else in his life he poked and prodded at it systematically, trying to figure out just what brought this warm feeling within him.

Every thought, every angle that crossed his mind pointed to one person, Lucy. Rogue could count on one hand how many times he'd ever felt this comfortable in his life, and most were involving his exceed Frosch or his fellow dragon slayer Sting and his exceed Lector, and even those were few and far between. But it seemed that whenever he was around the blonde, even just being in her presence put him at ease and he couldn't help but be drawn to her bubbliness and exuberance in everything she does.

There was once a time when he'd look down on someone like her, seeing their happiness as nothing more than weakness and continue on with his life. But having had his eyes and heart opened made him see what life on the other side of the fence was like. No more standing at the divide and peeking over, wondering how different things were over there, he would jump that fence and find out for himself. He was ready to jump in feet first and experience the other side.

His thoughts came to an end as they approached the decorations aisle and the first excited squeal bubbled out of Fro, dashing here and there talking rapidly.

Rogue for the first time was rather speechless. Only one word rang true and he found himself saying it in his mind as it slipped from his lips, his eyes wide trying to take all the different colors in.

"Wow."

Lucy laughed as she browsed and looked at him over her shoulder, picking up a box of glass balls.

"Never seen so many breakables in one place?" She teased.

"Amongst other things." He murmured drawn over to a sparkly display.

"So pretty! Ooh ooh, look at these. Can we get these? Oh wow these lights blink!" Frosch was in a world by herself.

Rogue couldn't help but chuckle at the cat's joy as he stepped up beside the blonde comparing different strands of lights.

"Hmm so they have blinking lights, lights that blink along with music, big lights, small lights and oooh they have the old fashioned bubble lights! I haven't seen these in years!"

"What's a bubble light?" Fro asked perching on Rogues head, leaning over to get a good look.

Lucy handed over the box. "See here in this colored ball? That's where the light is and as the light warms the liquid in this tube, bubbles start to form and they run up the length of the tube. Thus we have bubble lights."

"Oooh, can we get some of those?" Fro asked.

"Of course we can."

"That is rather creative and surprisingly simple."

"My mother had some bubble lights as well, they belonged to her mother so they were the really old fashioned kind that heated up fast. These ones are not supposed to do that so we won't have to worry about leaving them lit on the tree for long periods of time." Lucy grabbed four boxes of the bubble lights and set them into the cart and turned towards some regular lights, tapping her chin. "Now I think we should have a few strands of regular lights to string under the bubble ones, makes the tree look even better in my opinion." She turned to Rogue who was examining a box of multicolored lights. "Rogue, would you like to get a few of those?"

"Hmm?" He looked up.

A smile pulled at her lips. He'd been so engrossed reading the box that he'd completely missed the question.

"Do you want to get a few strands of those?"

"Won't there be too many lights on the tree if we use the bubble lights and these as well?"

She laughed softly. "First off, there's no such thing as too many lights and secondly we would put these on first and then wind the bubble ones on after. The contrast between the two look beautiful in the dark." He handed the box over to her to look at. "Ah, and these have the option of blinking to either music or silently, good choice."

A flush spread across his cheeks at her praise and he quickly looked away trying to focus on something else, just noticing a lump of sparkly substance flying towards them. Squinting his eyes he figured it had to be Fro, but what on earth did she have around her. The little lump plopped down in Lucy's arms, surprising the blond before noticing just what she held and burst out laughing.

"Fro what on Earthland?"

The little cat spread her arms and the long strands wrapped around her started to unravel and fall off. "Fro thinks these are pretty! Can Fro get these? Please?"

Rogue came closer, his hand raised the wrappings to his face, running it through his fingers, trying to figure out what it was.

"What is this?" He inquired, tilting his head.

Lucy caught her breath from laughing so hard and started unraveling the cat slowly, little bits of tinsel still lingering in Fro's fur.

"This is the stuff I mentioned before, it's called tinsel garland. You wind it around the tree and the lights reflect off the tinsel and it makes the tree look even more gorgeous." She unwound the cat and left one small strand around her shoulders, tweaking the exceeds nose as Fro smiled up at her and flew off to find more treasure.

"I think we'll get two different colors and see which look better with the lights."

After browsing through various glass balls and grabbing a few boxes Lucy set her sights on the top shelf.

"Now for the most important decoration."

Both looked at her curiously and followed her stare seeing the boxes with various things, like stars and what looked like dolls with wings. Rogues brows furrowed as Fro hovered to grab a few and hand them to Lucy to examine.

Rogue peered over her shoulder curiously. 'What was so important about these?'

"What are those Lucy?"

Turning the boxes over she studied the picture of what it would look like lit up before meeting their curious eyes with a smile.

"These," she said showing them. "Are tree toppers."

"Tree toppers?"

"So, am I to assume from the name that they go on top of the tree then?" Rogue asked.

Lucy nodded. "Correct! Now we just need to figure out what we want, either a star or an angel." She said letting them look at the boxes.

Rogue contemplated which would look better and turned to Fro, who seemed enamored with the angel. Her little paws caressed the box as she stared wide eyed at it.

"Would you like to get the angel Frosch?" Rogue asked quietly.

Wide eyes darted up to his and she nodded.

"Then we'll get it." Lucy replied as Fro clutched the angel gently and placed it on top of the huge pile in the cart, watching as it threatened to topple over.

"Think we've got enough?" Rogue asked warily, watching as the pile teetered back and forth.

Lucy reached out to prevent a cascade of objects not wanting to have broken decorations for their tree, and laughed. "I think we've got enough for ten trees, but we'll definitely have the best looking tree around with all the stuff you guys picked out."

Rogue helped bag the mountain of purchases and kept his eyes on the total, watching as Lucy brought out her wallet to pay.

It hadn't really dawned on him until that moment that she'd been paying for everything, but now that it had been brought to his attention, it was bugging him.

"Lucy?" She turned to him with a questioning gaze as she rifled through her wallet.

"Yeah?"

"Would it be possible for me to pay for this?"

A frown creased her features. "How come?"

He shifted his weight subtly, uncomfortable with the situation and not knowing how to explain it without offending her. "Well, I've noticed you're paying for everything and..." He faltered at her expression, wondering if she was getting annoyed.

She smiled softly and he relaxed somewhat. "You want to help me, is that it?"

He nodded, glad she got his point.

She sighed with a quirk to her lips, looking at her wallet then back at him. "Alright, how about this? We're going to pick out a tree next, so you can pay for that."

He considered that and tilted his head. "That would be acceptable. But perhaps I could pay for the next thing as well, seeing as how you bought groceries and decorations."

"Hmm, I hadn't thought about that. So you want to keep it even then? I pay a couple of times and then you do?"

"Correct."

"Hmm well, I've always been taught not to let guests pay for anything," She paused at his slight frown. "But, since you're probably not going to let this go without a fight..." He nodded, his face determined. "Then we'll do it your way."

She finished handing over the jewels.

A trio loaded with bags practically fell through her door almost forgetting to gently set the bags down, as most of the contents were rather fragile. Even Fro had managed a few bags of her own, mostly containing the non breakables, seeing as how excited she was and could barely fly straight as she rambled continuously about pretty things.

Lucy laughed as they slumped to the floor, the sea of bags stretched before her.

"Well, at least we won't have to worry about not having enough, eh?"

Rogue grunted from somewhere near the door. "That's for sure."

Blowing out a sigh, Lucy glanced at the clock seeing it was a little after four, so they had time to spare.

"So, you guys wanna go get the tree today as well? Or are you too tired?" She laughed as Fro immediately popped up from rummaging in one of the bags, sparkles mixed throughout her fur.

"Fros ready!"

Another grunt met her ears as Rogue stood up with a smile. "I'm game."

The blond got to her feet and pumped her fist in the air. "Then what are we waiting for? Trees ahoy!"

All bundled up they made their way to the outskirts of Magnolia, as the sun started to set in the distance. The warm orange glow bathed everything in sight, the snow reflecting tiny sparkles in the light of the sun.

City lights were sparse in the outskirts where the land was dominated by more farms than anything else, so as the sun went down the hanging lanterns flared to life, lighting their way.

"The tree farm is just over this hill," Lucy stated.

True to form, their eyes zeroed in on quite a few acres of dense forest, trees of all shapes and sizes.

Walking through an arch they were greeted by other people doing the same, picking out their trees. Lucy smiled and waved at quite a few people seeing as how she was sort of a celebrity in town, belonging to Fairy Tail.

"Hey! There's my girl!" A masculine voice boomed out, drawing Rogues attention to a young man enveloping Lucy in a bear hug.

"Mel!"

The sight had him growling low in his throat, the piercing feeling of anger and something else assaulted his senses and he stood there confused as to what that feeling was. He couldn't help but feel even more confused when Lucy hugged the man back with a squeal and wondered just how close these two were and why he'd never met him before. His stomach flooded with disappointment as he observed the two greeting each other fondly. Fro settled on his shoulder and pressed a paw to his cheek, bringing his attention back to what was being said.

"I wasn't sure you were coming this year."

Lucy laughed and stepped back to where Rogue was standing, who was feeling like a fish out of water. "Oh right. You know I only get my tree from you."

The young man shrugged smirking. "So, who are your friends?" His blue eyes danced with warmth as they landed on the dragon slayer and his exceed.

"Oh geez where are my manners?" Lucy groused extending a hand to grab onto Rogue's and pulled him forward. "This is my good friend Rogue and the little one is Frosch."

The action surprised him, but he shook it off as the man extended his hand and grabbed onto his with a grin.

"Hey there. I'm Mel, nice to meetcha." His eyes turned to Fro. "My, what a cute frog suit you've got there. But what's this behind your ear?" He asked reaching behind her head and produced a candy cane for her eyes.

"Oh will you look at that. Looks like you've got candy back there!" He chuckled.

Fro's eye went wide as the cane was handed to her, her eyes sparkled in wonder. Rogue couldn't help but smile, even as he was still uneasy as to the situation.

"What do you say Fro?"

"Fro thanks you." She whispered.

Mel rubbed the cats head fondly. "You're welcome little one." He turned back to Lucy crossing his arms. "So, I've got some choice trees all ready for your critiquing."

"Oh, I'm not that bad Mel."

Rogue felt the nagging sensation in his chest, and knew he had to ask or he would go insane.

"So how do you two know each other?" He inquired, gazing out into the trees trying to look nonchalant, but also keeping an eye on the pair.

"Oh duh, forgot to mention that." Lucy said. "Mel's family is old friends with my mom's family, and every year we ordered our trees from this farm."

"And she's gotten her mom's keen eye for detail, that's for sure." Mel teased.

Lucy puffed her cheeks out. "Hey, I just have particular specifics for my tree, that's all."

Mel rolled his eyes. "Sure." He turned to Rogue and winked, whispering conspiratorially. "That's just a fancy way of saying she's picky."

Rogue couldn't help letting out a small breath of relief hearing they were just friends and interacted much like a brother and sister would.

"Indeed." He agreed, his dark eyes dancing in amusement when Lucy huffed and Mel laughed.

"Fine, fine I'm picky. Now that that's out of the way can we see the darn trees already?" She tried to keep the frown on her face but it dissolved with a yelp as Mel poked her side as he led the way.

"Yes, Your Highness."

He led the group a couple of rows away, back into a corner. "Here's the best ones we've got. Take your time and tell me when you've chosen and I'll be back with my chainsaw." He said moving back to the entrance to greet other customers.

"Will do," She murmured, brushing her fingers through various boughs as she circled some trees, looking for heaven knows what Rogue didn't know.

"So what do you look for in a tree Lucy?" He asked pacing behind her as she moved through the trees.

"Hmm well," She bent over examining the trunk, pushed boughs out of the way absently, frowning. "Its gotta be a good height, have a good number of branches that are fairly strong." She tapped her chin as she contemplated a rather full looking tree. "Its got to have a good color, not too dark and not too light, and it can't be losing too many needles right off the bat if it's going to last 'til Christmas."

He scratched his head laughing softly. "So, not too many things then?" He teased.

Lucy blushed. "W-well it's just, that's the things mom always insisted on and it sort of stuck all these years you know?"

He held up a hand. "Say no more. We'll find your perfect tree Lucy."

Fro jumped up, shooting up into the air. "Fro will help!"

And so it went. The group steadily made its way through the rows, the silence being broken by many questions.

"How about this one? Its got a nice height to it."

"No, see it's a good height but it's not full on this one side. See, there's a hole here?"

"Fro found a good one."

"Eh, that's way too tall Fro. The top of the tree would be through the roof and I doubt my landlady would appreciate the hole even for Christmas." She laughed.

"This ones full with no bare spots."

"Yeah but look at the ground beneath it. There's too many needles on the ground."

It was about a good 45 minutes later when Mel ventured out and found them.

"So, how goes the treasure hunt? Find a good one yet, or should I come back next year?" He joked.

"Oh shush Mel." Lucy grumbled.

Rogue shook his head amused with the blonds antics and leaned towards the farmer. "You weren't kidding earlier."

Mel nodded sagely. "I think it gets worse every year."

"I can hear you ya know."

Both males wisely stayed silent as she glared in their direction before an excited voice piped up, drawing her attention elsewhere.

"Lucy… Lucy!"

She looked up seeing Fro's excited face. "What's up Fro?"

"Fro found the perfect tree, follow me!" She zipped off leaving the group to run and catch up.

They all came to a stop as the exceed hovered around one tree in particular, pointing excitedly.

"See?"

Lucy walked in a full circle around it, a concentrated look on her face as she moved boughs and shook the tree muttering to herself, tested the branches strength before stepping back and nodding.

"Awesome find Fro! We'll take this one."

Both males exhaled in relief as Mel started up his chainsaw and brought it down in no time. He was surprised as Rogue picked the tree up with little to no effort and shook the excess needles off without a problem.

"Man," He said shaking his head in amusement as Rogue wrapped the tree up with ropes and hefted it to his shoulder like it weighed nothing more than a pillow. "You ever need a job man, let me know."

"I'll keep that in mind." Rogue laughed softly.

"See ya Mel." Lucy said giving him a farewell hug and joined Frosch and Rogue as they walked back to town, turning back for a second. "I'll see you at the Christmas festival this year, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" He shouted back.

Lucy sighed as she stretched her arms over her head and brought them back down tiredly. "Geez, this has been a full day, huh?" She said turning to look at Rogue.

"I believe we accomplished quite a lot today, yes."

"And tomorrow we decorate the tree."

"Yay!" Fro shouted as she bounced while sitting on the tree balanced on Rogue's shoulder.

"So, how was your first experience at picking out a tree?" She asked softly, staring up at the millions of stars.

Rogue's gaze stayed on her face as she smiled softly, thinking there were more beautiful things than the stars. "It was truly educational."

"Fro had fun!"

Lucy laughed softly. "Well I'm glad you guys, I hope I can make this holiday the best one ever." She shivered and walked closer to the dragon slayer, avoiding the tree as she absently threaded her fingers with his one free hand.

"If it's anything like we've seen so far then I'm sure it will be." He replied, squeezing her hand tenderly through her mittens.

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><p>(¯`¥´¯`·.¸.:¨NIchiki ¨:.¸.·´¯`¥´¯) <p>


	4. Chapter 4

Yuletide Lessons

Chapter 4

December 14th

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><p>The door to Lucy's apartment was flung open with a happy shout of, "Hey guys!"<p>

Frosch zoomed around her head echoing her happy greeting, and zipped inside intent on seeing what she had in store for them today.

Immediately Rogue was blasted with a mix of warmth, Christmas music blaring in the other room and a variety of other smells, but what really made his eyes go wide was her attire and he had to avert his eyes quickly before she caught him. Tall white and red striped stockings adorned her legs, the smallest black shorts he'd ever seen met his eyes and he had to struggle to breathe past the lump in his throat. But as his eyes trailed upwards he let out a chuckle seeing her green oversized sweater had a picture of a reindeer sitting in an armchair with a glass of what he mused was spiked eggnog. The bold words "I don't drink and sleigh, might run over your gramma" stared back at him, his gaze traveled up still and her brilliant smile brought out a small one on him but as she gestured for him to enter he stopped and quirked a brow just noticing something was on her head. They appeared to be deer antlers with a string of bells twisted around them and lights, like they'd gotten stuck.

Lucy giggled shaking her head making soft jingles fill the air. "What? Don't like my antlers?" She teased, shutting the door watching him chuckle as he shucked his shoes and coat.

"On the contrary your antlers are very adorable, lights, bells and all."

She blushed and turned to make her way into the main room.

Rogue followed her shaking his head and chuckling, the view of her floor cluttered with all the decorations they bought met his eyes as Lucy waded through the pile to stand near the tree. The night before he had placed it in the tree stand so it wouldn't have to lean against her wall for the whole night. Lucy didn't think her landlady would appreciate the sap the tree would leave behind, not to mention it probably would've come out of her pocket.

"Ok guys!" She clapped her hands excitedly. Fro stopped zooming around the room enough to focus on the blond along with Rogue.

"Today we are going to decorate the tree!"

"Yay!" Fro shouted.

"Sounds good." Rogue nodded looking around. "Where do we start first?"

Lucy picked up a few coils of lights and began unwinding them. "We put on the lights, and then the garland and after that we will put up the multicolored balls and such."

Rogue nodded as she pass the strand to him and moved to stand next to the tree.

"Ok, important thing to do first is to make sure the end with the plug is next to the extension chord and we start draping the lights on the boughs and gently pushing them in there so they stay."

She demonstrated the technique from the bottom of the tree, gently laying the strand as she walked around the tree and Rogue walked behind her, making sure the lights didn't get tangled.

"Do you always start on the bottom?" Rogue inquired their third time around the tree.

Grunting softly as she kneeled down to get the strands closer to the trunk of the tree. "Yeah, this is how we did our tree back home. It's just easier this way to go up, then down."

With the three of them working they managed to get four strands on the tree, plus the bubble ones on top of those. "Make sure and be extra careful with the bubble lights. They can be really temperamental and sometimes the bulbs break."

Standing back Lucy nodded and signaled to Rogue to turn off the lights and make sure the strands all worked. He flipped the switch and she let Fro plug them in and they all stood back for a moment and just admired the twinkling.

"Ok, now for Fro's lovely garland."

"Oooh ooh can Fro do it? Please?"

Lucy tapped her chin and smiled. "Sure you can and while you do that we can come up behind you and put on the balls. Actually that cuts the work in half."

So to the tune of many Christmas songs drifting in the background, they worked in harmony. Fro tied all the garland together and wasted no time flying around the tree in circles.

"Ack! Fro not so fast, you'll get us caught..."

"Ooof."

Before they knew it she had wrapped them both up against the tree and somehow they'd gotten smooshed together. Rogue wrapped his arms around Lucy steadying her before she toppled over and took everything with her.

"Fro's sorry!" The little cat wailed.

"It's alright Frosch," Rogue cleared his throat as he fought to keep a blush off his face from Lucy being pressed up against him so snug.

Lucy struggled to do the same as she ducked under the garland and they managed to free themselves. "That's ok, no harm done." She smiled and tickled the cats tummy, silently willing her blush to disappear.

"Just try and slow down a bit hmm?"

After the mishap the two had a hard time looking at each other in the eye without blushing, but wherever they seemed to be the other would be also, but after a while they seemed to find the situation funny and neither cold keep from laughing softly.

Lucy hummed along with the music and started singing softly, her fingers laden with different glass balls as she hung them from boughs. Her gaze was drawn to Rogue doing much the same, but instead he seemed to be hanging them in a set pattern and she wondered if he even knew he was doing it or if he was doing it without even thinking about it. He always seemed so calm and collected in every situation and figured he had always a plan forming in his mind. He was never impetuous, hardly did anything without considering the bad and good, but she knew he was trying to be more open to things. He was so different from when she'd first met him and thought he acted too aloof and cold towards everyone except his exceed. But after spending some time with him and gently nudging him to talk to her and share things with her, she found he had many different aspects to his personality that were overshadowed by the shy person he was when first experiencing something unknown to him.

That cold front is what he'd used over the many years to keep others from getting too close, but with some hard work she managed to gain a bit of his trust and broke through that façade to see the true Rogue buried deep down. She knew he didn't show this side too much and appreciated that he trusted her enough to not make fun of him, and just accept him for who he was. From what she could gather his past hadn't been too good,so when the opportunity to help him break out of his shyness and teach him about something like Christmas came about she jumped on it. From the look of wonder and thought that seemed to cross his face from time to time she knew he was enjoying himself and learning everything he could. But she hoped he wasn't just doing it for her sake but also for his own. She wanted him to smile and laugh and experience as many good things this life had to offer, he deserved that much.

Subtlety, Rogue kept an eye on the blonde swaying and singing along to her radio, enjoying her voice as much as her movements, and more than once he had to catch himself from openly staring. His hands moved automatically, hanging the glass balls on each bough as he kept his gaze riveted on Lucy. He still couldn't believe someone like her was even giving him the time of day and he had to stop himself from pinching himself in case he was dreaming. He knew he wasn't exactly a social butterfly, no that was more like her, flitting from person to person much like the insect did to gather pollen. Her smile was infectious, her laugh made everyone join in and you couldn't help but gravitate towards her enthusiasm. At first he hadn't known how to approach her and thought to just be content to watch her from a distance, but with a shove from his partner Sting, literally, he'd introduced himself.

From there she'd coaxed him into conversations and he'd been pleasantly surprised at her quick wit and intelligence in everything she said. Contrary to the jibs she made against herself being a blonde with a big (ahem) chest, she had the brains to delve into deeper and meaningful conversations with him than he'd ever had with anyone for a long time. Everyday he was finding new and exciting things about this beauty that just made him gravitate towards her more, and loved to make her laugh and smile. It became something of a goal to make her smile as much as he could within his presence and along with his exceed Frosch, it seemed to be working. Idly he wondered what it would be like to be able to see her everyday instead of when he had time off. His eyes caught hers and he smiled as she blushed, a shy smile on her lips as she continued to sing softly. To always be in her presence, that would make him happier than anything this world had to offer, and he knew he had to make that happen with every fiber of his body.

"Alright guys, the final moment is here." Rogue and Fro gathered around her as she picked up the last piece and the exceed squealed happily.

Laughing she handed the cat the angel. "Ok, Fro, lets put your angel on top and then the tree will be done."

"Ok Lucy!" She smiled as she flew at a slower pace and with gentle paws set the angel down making sure to adjust her just right.

"Good job Fro. Now come here and Rogue come stand here."

Both followed the instructions with confused looks but as the room was suddenly plunged into darkness they were startled as the tree came alive with the lights. It was a truly magnificent sight to behold and you could tell Fro seemed to be thinking along the same lines with her little 'oohs' and 'ahhs'. His breath seemed to freeze as the bubbles started floating up the small tubes just like she'd said, and the garland reflecting the twinkling and danced along her walls. Silently he felt as Lucy came to stand next to him.

"Do you like it? "She whispered.

He turned to look at her and with a smile and nodded. "It's beautiful Lucy. Thank you."

She giggled and pushed his shoulder playfully. "Hey, I'm not the only one who worked on this, both of you did your part so give yourself credit too."

"But without you, we would've never known this feeling in the first place." He said softly, his dark eyes held a hint of warmth and she flushed being told such a praise.

"I only offered to teach you guys about the holiday, it's not a big deal." She ducked her head blushing at his praise.

He shook his head with that fond smile. "You're doing so much more than that Lucy." He turned to see Fro flying around the tree giggling happily and clapping her paws at the display. "You've given us a precious gift that we will remember for years to come."

Her blush grew deeper but she didn't know what to say to that, so instead she kept quiet and gazed along with him at the tree only to jump slightly when she felt his fingers lace with hers.

It was a new feeling, the butterflies swirling around in her stomach at such a small gesture but at the same time it felt so right, being here with him and Fro. Just like they were a little family and she wondered what it would be like if they could be a family.

'That would be a wonderful Christmas present.' She thought to herself and gently squeezed his hand.

* * *

><p>(¯`¥´¯`·.¸.:¨NIchiki ¨:.¸.·´¯`¥´¯)<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Yuletide Lessons

Chapter 5

December 15th

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><p>Presents, he was dreading the day they would go out and shop for gifts. Not because he didn't want to or anything, more like he had no clue what to give Lucy that would tell her just how much she means to him. He paced the floor endlessly in their hotel room night after night racking his brain for a gift she would not only like but would mean something, but what? The answer came to him in the form of an innocent question from his exceed.<p>

"Fro wants to get Lucy a nice gift. Do you think Happy would know what to get her?"

Rogue froze in place and tilted his head as he gazed at Frosch in contemplation. Would Happy know what to get her? Or for that matter maybe Natsu would, or Gray or even Erza. They were all really close being in a tight knit team so perhaps he could get some insights as to what to get her.

He smiled gently as Fro hovered near his face. "That's a good idea. How about we go visit her team and ask them together?"

"Yay, Fro gets to see Happy!" She shouted as they walked towards the guild hall. Rogue pushed open the doors and immediately had to duck as a body went sailing past, chuckling he stood up and barely managed to get out of the way as Gray barreled out the door.

"Seems everything is rather lively here as usual. Since that sounded like Natsu disguised as a human bullet and Gray went after him, so I need to find… aha!" His gaze locked onto his target sitting at the bar talking to the barmaid and started in their direction barely catching the tail end of their conversation.

"You'd think those two would get tired of picking fights with each other by now." Mira mused.

"I do believe they've fought for so long that they can't help it any longer. Almost as if the day wouldn't be right without their fists flying at the other." She turned to regard the new comer with curiosity. "Hello Rogue, what brings you here this morning? I believe Lucy isn't due to show up for another couple of hours."

"Hey Rogue, what can I getcha? Anything to eat?" Mira asked leaning on the bar top with a smile on her face.

Rogue shook his head and faltered being the center of their intense stares and almost knowing smirks. It was like they knew he wanted to ask them something important, something about Lucy and they weren't going to make this easy on him.

"Fro, Rogue! How ya doin'?!" Happy shouted as he plopped on the bar with a paw raised.

"Happy!" Fro squealed launching herself across the bar and tackling the exceed with enthusiasm. They ended up sprawled against the wall in a heap of laughter and Happy immediately launched into their teams latest adventures.

"Looks like someone missed Happy," Mira mused and then turned back to Rogue with a raised brow. "So, what can we do for you today Rogue?"

He shifted his weight as he tried to think of how to ask the question without raising suspicion. He didn't want anyone spoiling the surprise he had for the blond.

"I suppose this is about Lucy, am I correct?" Erza inquired, crossing her arms.

He nodded.

"Well go ahead and ask then, we know her better than anyone." Mira said proudly, bouncing in place in excitement.

He scratched the back of his neck and shifted again, his eyes darting between the two women's nervously. "W-well you see, in a few days we are supposed to go gift shopping and I..." He faltered, looking lost.

"You wish to give her something very special, but have no idea as to what to get her, correct?" Erza finished for him.

Surprised he nodded again.

Mira giggled at his expression. "Well, we are sort of like her family so we're understandably protective of her and when you first started coming around we figured it had to be for some reason. It didn't take a genius to figure out why either." She winked at him and giggled as he flushed.

Erza turned fully and leveled a truly intimidating stare at him. "We know you feel something for our Lucy and at first we weren't going to let anything happen between you two because of your guilds treatment of her in the past, but your actions have thus far convinced us that your intentions are pure. And Lucy does not hold you responsible for past incidents with your guild, so I trust her judgment." She leaned in closer, making him gulp hard. "Don't make me rethink that decision."

He nodded with a small, "Yes ma'am."

Her expression relaxed as she leaned back and plopped a hand on his shoulder with a smile.

"Good, now that that's out of the way let's hear your ideas for a gift for her."

He relaxed somewhat and crossed his arms in thought. "Well, I've never really given anyone a gift before, except Frosch." He pointed out. "But those were all little kids things, nothing for a grown woman."

"So in other words you have no idea what to give her, right?" Mira asked.

"Unfortunately, no," He bowed his head in shame.

"Well that's alright, that's what we are here for right, Erza?"

"Indeed. Now let's see what does she like." Erza tilted her head back to think.

"Well, we know she likes to take baths, so perhaps some frilly bath products?" Mira offered.

"Hmm while she might like those, they aren't exactly special and I'm assuming you want this to be extra special, am I right?"

"Yes I do." He put on his most determined face and squared his shoulders. "Lucy means a lot to me and I want this gift to convey that I wish to be with her."

"That's a tall order for a gift." Erza said dryly, turning to look at a mystified Mira. "Is there such a gift?

Mira shook her baby induced hallucinations and nodded. "We will do our best to think up a suitable gift for her Rogue, you can count on us." She leaned over the bar and whispered. "Just don't tell any of the boys, they can't keep a secret for the life of them."

Erza paused taking a sip of her tea and looked thoughtful. "Yes, there's that and I don't think they would be too happy hearing their precious teammate whom they consider a sister, is being pursued by anyone."

Rogue frowned. "Do they not let her date then?" He wondered if they would be another obstacle in his way.

Mira bit her lip and nodded as she twisted her hands in her apron looking towards the guild doors. "Well you see, we're all very protective of her, but those two guys are the worst." She stressed. "And there's been so many odd..." She faltered.

"Creepy, weird, most ungentlemanly men approach her." Erza finished for her.

Mira nodded. "Yeah, so she's had a lot of men approach her and if they don't like the looks of them they automatically chase them away, but its gotten so bad lately that even if a guy looks her way it sends them off the deep end."

"Any guy at all? What about guys they know? Like say for instance someone in the guild?" He asked.

"Well." They both started, sharing a look. "They seem to be more lenient towards guys in our guild, but not by much."

"I believe," Erza stated. "That it's a question of someone being able to not only protect her and cherish her, but," Her gaze locked onto his. "For someone to stand up to them and defend their feelings for her. I believe that in their mind if someone doesn't stand by their feelings and hold firm then they aren't the one for her."

"I think you're right Erza." Mira interjected. "Her team is like her family so if they were to ever give her away willingly it would be to someone willing to lay down their own life for her."

Erza nodded. "I agree with their thinking in that. So to that extent Rogue, are you willing to lay down your life for hers?"

He didn't even have to think on the answer. "I would gladly do so in a heartbeat." He replied smoothly with conviction.

Both women smiled. "Good, very good Rogue. Now you only need to convince those two of the same and we have an idea how to do that, but first her gift."

* * *

><p>Lucy opened her door and discovered a package sitting on her stair. She picked it up and examined the tag just as Rogue and Fro came up the stairs and spotted her.<p>

"Morning Lucy." Rogue says studying her face as she turned the package this way and that.

"Hiya Lucy!" Fro shouts. "What's that?"

"Hey guys! Looks like I've got an early Christmas present, but I have no clue who it's from." She frowned and turned to go back into her kitchen as they followed close behind.

"What does the tag say?" Rogue asked curiously.

"It just says open me."

"Well then open it Lucy!" Fro shouted.

Lucy bit her lips uncertainly and turned her gaze to Rogue. "You think I should? I mean I have no clue who it's from and it could be dangerous."

Rogue looked thoughtful at it for a moment. "Let me see it for a moment Lucy." She handed the package to him and shook it a little and gently sniffed at it, before handing it back with a shrug.

"I can smell nothing dangerous and it doesn't sound like anything bad, so go ahead, see what's inside."

Still looking uncertain she nodded and gently unwrapped the package, finding a box. Very slowly she pried the lid off and peered inside and gasped, the most beautiful scarf she'd ever seen peeked back up at her. She lifted it out of the box and wrapped it around her only noticing a piece of paper on the bottom of the box, she picked it up examining it.

"Hmm it looks like a page out of a book, odd." She murmured absently.

"What does it say?" Rogue asked peering closer as Fro hovered nearby.

Her eyes widened and a blush spread across her cheeks before she answered. "It says, 'For those cold and lonely nights use this to keep you warm knowing I wish it was my arms holding you so tight'. "

Rogue looked thoughtful at the gift while Lucy couldn't believe she'd gotten such a thing. She had a secret admirer and knew her taste well. But even as the warm feeling bloomed in her chest at the endearing words she couldn't help but feel guilty because her heart belonged to someone else. And that someone didn't really seemed bothered that she essentially had just gotten a love letter from a stranger.

'Maybe, maybe I haven't been forward enough. Maybe he doesn't know that I like him like that.' She wondered as Fro gushed about the pretty scarf and Rogue smiled softly at the cat's wonderment. 'Perhaps I need to be more aggressive.' She nodded to herself and tucked the page into a folder on her desk. Lucy had a feeling that wouldn't be the only present she was going to get and wondered what else was in store for her, who it was sending them to her and just how she was going to let them down easy. After all, her heart belonged to this quiet young man, and she was determined to make him see that they could be together.

Slowly she formed a plan to initiate more contact between the two as they spent more time together. "Alright, how about we go shopping today? I've got a few gifts to get."

"Have you figured out what to give to whom?" He asked.

"Well Master thought it would be better for us to shop for our own teams, that way we wont go broke shopping for everyone and I doubt I could think up gifts for everyone or afford something like that."

He nodded. "That makes sense."

"I think Master gives everyone something anyways so no matter what everyone will get something. So I've got to get four, no six gifts this year."

Rogue frowned and tilted his head. "But you only have five people on your team and I doubt you will get yourself a present, so who are the extra two for?"

Lucy turned away and pulled on her coat and mittens as she made her way to the door.

"That my dear Rogue, is a Christmas secret." She winked at him as they made their way into town.

"Fro wonders if they are for us." She whispered into Rogues ear, but the blonde heard anyway and laughed.

"Could be Fro, could be." She said mysteriously.

* * *

><p>(¯`¥´¯`·.¸.:¨NIchiki ¨:.¸.·´¯`¥´¯)<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Yuletide Lessons

Chapter 6

December 16th

* * *

><p>The streets of Magnolia were packed as Lucy, Rogue and Fro squeezed their way through. The annual Christmas Festival was in full swing and every year hundreds of people flock to the town just to see all the sights. Various stalls littered the streets decked with different wares, clothes, jewelry, foreign food and other magical items not found anywhere else. Lucy's head moved like it was on a swivel as she tried to take in everything around her at once, childlike 'oohs' came from both her and Fro's mouths. Rogue chuckled as he himself took in the sights, sounds and various aromas wafting through the air. Having such enhanced senses sometimes was a burden and for instances like this could be unbearable usually, but he could endure it for as long as Lucy wished to be there.<p>

Fro's tummy rumbled and Lucy's echoed the sound making them both burst out laughing as Rogue's head snapped from the enticing smells hearing the sounds.

"Perhaps we should feed your stomachs before they eat us?" He said dryly steering them towards the food stalls.

Fro settled on his head and giggled in her paws. "Fro's tummy could never eat Rogue, he's much too big."

"And I doubt he'd taste very good," Lucy pointed out, before her eyes lit up and grabbed his arm, dragging him to stand in front of a stall that smelled enticingly sweet.

"Oooh elephant ears and funnel cakes… ooh the yummy deep fried, sugary goodness." She turned to them. "Which do you guys want?"

"Fro doesn't want to eat an elephant's ear." She scrunched her nose.

"Indeed, that doesn't sound very appetizing, but what is a funnel cake?" Rogue inquired stretching to see over the people crowded around the stall.

Lucy laughed. "No no no. It's not an actual elephant ear, its a fried piece of dough stretched out in a big round shape that just looks like one, that's why it's called that. A funnel cake is also fried dough but instead of it being in a flat circle they drizzle it in different squiggles in the oil and they all come out in different shapes. But both have a mixture of cinnamon and sugar on top and they are both so yummy."

Seeing both their faces light up she smiled and stood in line. "I'll get us a few of each so you can try them both."

Fifteen minutes later they strolled back through the stalls munching on their sugary treats as they browsed the various items for sale.

"Ooh look at that armor! Hey, I wonder if Erza has this one?" She sifted through before finding one she'd never seen before and purchased it before continuing on.

Rogue turned to her and smiled. "Find a good one?"

"Yeah, this is one I know she won't have." She frowned. "Say, what do you think Gray and Natsu would like? I always have a problem finding stuff for guys, and those two are hard to shop for."

Rogue turned a thoughtful gaze amongst the stalls. "Hmm, how about for Natsu since he likes food so much, get him a rare sweet. Like say some of those." He pointed and pulled her over to the stall.

"What are they?" Lucy scrunched her nose. They looked like ordinary chocolates but the smell of something spicy permeated the air.

"Err ifero alls." Fro offered, her mouth full of an elephant ear and Lucy laughed as crumbs and sugar tumbled onto Rogues hair making him frown.

"Let's try to keep the food in your mouth up there Frosch, you're getting more in my hair than in your mouth."

Lucy reached up to dust the crumbs away giggling, missing the flush on Rogue's face as he averted his eyes and cleared his throat.

"Was that English?" She chortled.

"What she said was these are called Inferno Balls. While they look like regular chocolates they aren't. The chocolate coating has a mixture of hot spices and the centers have all varying degrees of heat, each one different from the last."

"Oooh, I know he'll love that." She grabbed a box and purchased it adding it to the bag hanging on her arm.

"Ok," She paused looking around. "Now for Gray. What could I get him?"

"I'd say clothes since he's constantly losing his." Rogue retorted dryly.

Lucy giggled. "That's for sure. Oh wait. That's perfect!" She said excitedly and dragged him to a magical clothing stall. "Look this coat has a function that automatically re-adjusts to the wearer's needs and repairs itself. He would never need another coat, ever."

Fro hovered near the clothing and picked up a pair of boxers slipping them over her head making the people around her break out in laughter. "Fro thinks this hat would be good!" She squawked as they disappeared in a puff of white sparkles and reappeared back on the stall.

Rogue chuckled and reached out to gently ruffle the cats hair under her hood.

"Those aren't a hat Frosch but a good find none the less."

Laughing softly Lucy picked them up and turned them this way and that only for them to vanish and reappear once again. "Like I thought, they reappear back to the owner if separated by a certain distance. These are perfect." She grabbed a snowflake covered one and threw one of the coats on top.

Rogue grabbed her bag from her as it now weighed quite heavily and made their way back into the crowd.

"Ok," Lucy said tapping her chin as she looked around. "I've still got Happy and a few others."

Rogue gazed at her out of the corner of his eye and smirked. 'So she's getting us something, is she. Wonder what it will be.'

"Well," He stated. "If it's Happy, I think anything fish related would be fine."

"Yeah, Happy loves fish!" Fro shouted.

"That he does." Lucy mused. "Ok how about this?" She pulled them over to a fish stall.

"They have this option to buy a years worth of fish for someone and everyday someone will deliver them to that person?"

"Fro thinks Happy will love it!"

Rogue nodded. "I think that will be perfect for him."

Lucy wrote the details down and put down Natsu's address and handed over the jewels, receiving a piece of paper stating the details of the gift. She slipped the paper in the bag and looked around again and Rogue noticed her eyes kept slipping from them to the stalls looking nervous and biting her lip.

He sighed, deciding to make things easier for her and use that time to grab a few things himself. "How about we go off on our own for about an hour and meet back up in the town square? I've got a few things to get myself."

Lucy turned to him with a relieved smile and nodded. "Oh, ok. Try not to get lost you two." She waved as she slipped back into the crowd.

"I'll see you in an hour!"

Fro settled on Rogues shoulder gently. "Is Rogue gonna get Lucy something?"

"Indeed Frosch. Would you like me to help you pick something out for her?"

Fro nodded, her eyes wide as she looked around.

"Alright, let's go then."

* * *

><p>An hour later saw Lucy shifting from foot to foot anxiously as she kept peeking in the bag in her arms wondering if he would like what she picked out for him. Fro was the easiest, seeing as how she was so childlike Lucy had gone for various dolls, one of which bared a striking resemblance to Rogue and she knew Fro would absolutely love it. Rogue however was a different story and she had a hard time figuring out just what he would like.<p>

He was still so quiet and shy that he never really opened up and mentioned much about himself, so she'd used what she knew and observed and threw caution to the wind. She'd finally settled on a cape she'd found while browsing. It looked like an ordinary cape until light hit a certain angle and then it shimmered subtly and she gasped seeing the fabric looked much like dragons scales and appeared translucent. The vendor said it was very rare and indeed made of dragons scales.

The wearer would seem to disappear in front of an enemy as the light refracted off the scales and responded to the wearers wishes. Despite being made of scales it was lightweight and extremely hard to tear much like the hides of dragons. Lucy slipped her hand in the bag again and lightly ran a finger over the fabric watching as the scales rippled softly at her touch and smiled.

"Lucy!" A shout made her jump and she looked up with a smile as Fro darted across the heads of several people and latched onto her neck in a hug.

"Fro missed you!" Fro whispered as Lucy laid a palm across the cat's small back and spotted Rogue as he made his way through the crowd, her bag still on his arms along with several others. She raised a brow at him and he grinned in response, clutching the bags harder to keep her from looking.

"Ready to leave?" He asked.

"Yeah, let's go back to my place and wrap some gifts."

He steered them through the crowd and made their way to her apartment only to stop as they ascended her stairs seeing something against her door.

Lucy tilted her head as she peered down at it, Rogue craned his neck to look at it also.

"Looks like you've got another gift from your secret admirer."

"Yeah, looks like it." She whispered, grabbing the box, opened the door and set it on the kitchen table as they shucked their coats.

Even as they set the bags down her eyes kept going back to the box wondering what was in this one, what would the paper say? But she wouldn't open it in front of Rogue, that just wasn't fair to him, she already felt terrible that she'd done so for the first one.

"Are you gonna open it Lucy?" Fro asked.

"I don't think so, maybe later." She smiled weakly.

"Go ahead and open it Lucy. I can tell you're dying to know what's in it." Rogue smiled and gently pushed her towards it.

"B-but..."

He nudged her again. "Go ahead."

She bit her lip but nodded as she used a letter opener to cut the tape and opened the lid. Her brows furrowed as a sea of red met her eyes and began pulling the items out.

"They're candles, red ones, that smell like peppermint, all different shapes and sizes." She murmured.

Fro settled on the table and counted them as Lucy brought them out. "Wow, you've got 15 red candles Lucy, but look there's one left in the box."

Lucy frowned seeing the cat was right and brought out a golden candle. The size and shape differed from all the other ones and this was had intricate carvings all around it. It was truly beautiful, but what did it mean. She pondered that as she sat it amongst the other ones and noticed the paper on the bottom of the box, lifted it out and read the words.

"What does it say Lucy?" Fro whispered as Rogue looked on, a blank expression on his face as he nodded at her.

"It says: Like a brilliant golden candle amongst a sea of endless red, you stand out above all others."

A lump settled in her throat at such simple yet endearing words. Who could this mystery person be and how did they know just what to write to touch her heart? Her gaze went back to Rogues as Fro gently touched the gold candle and noticed his eyes seemed closed off. She wondered if all of this was upsetting him and she felt bad for opening it in front of him. Setting the candles back in the box she put it away in her room and shut the door firmly. It didn't matter what this person wrote to her or gave her, she would not waver from the one her heart was set on.

She carefully placed the bag full of their gifts in her closet and went back out to the living room arms full of wrapping paper, scissors, tape, ribbons and various other things.

"Ok you two," She beamed, hoping to get his mind off the gift. "Time to wrap these gifts."

"But Fro doesn't know how." She whined.

Lucy smiled gently. "Don't worry everyone starts out a beginner, but I've done hundreds and will show you how first and then you can try for yourself." She lugged the wrapping paper out and demonstrated the proper way to wrap, as they watched her fingers move quick and sure.

"There!" She held out the small box containing Natsu's chocolates.

"Now let's see you guys do the same."

Admittedly their first attempts were rather clumsy but they tried their hardest.

"Is Fro doing this right?"

"Not quite. The tape goes on the paper not on your fur sweety." Lucy laughed pulling the sticky stuff from the cat.

"How should I wrap this one?" Rogue asked holding up and oddly shaped package.

Lucy tilted her head. "Well, we could just wrap it with the wrapping paper or we can find a box to put it in."

"Can Fro put some pretty ribbons on mine like yours?"

"Of course! And don't forget the bows as well."

A couple of hours later they had a sizable pile of gifts and Lucy pulled out one more thing. "Now for the last part."

"What are those?" Fro asked.

"These," She fluttered the papers. "Are tags for the gifts. See you write who the gift goes to here, and then who it's from down here, and stick them on the packages."

Fro frowned slightly. "Fro doesn't know how to write." She said softly.

"Don't worry Fro, Rogue and I can help you, ok?" Lucy said soothingly.

"Ok." She nodded with a small smile.

Tags in place, they shoved the gifts under her tree and stepped back to admire the scene. Lucy noticed the extra bags by the kitchen door and idly wondered what was in those and why Rogue hadn't wrapped them but before she could ask he picked them up and turned to her with a smile.

"Alright, time for us to head back to the hotel. We had a wonderful time today Lucy, thank you."

"Fro thanks Lucy!" She shouted as she wrapped her paws around her neck and zipped over to Rogue as he nodded to her and opened the door.

Lucy rushed to the door and watched them walk down the stairs. "Have a good night Frosch, Rogue and I hope you had fun." She whispered surprised when he paused to turn around and grinned back in the dim light.

"We had a blast Lucy, Goodnight Lucy. Sleep well." And then he was gone, leaving a warm feeling blooming in her chest and a sense of loss. She sighed and closed the door, her eyes settling on the warm glow of the tree through the doorway with a fond smile. Maybe this year her Christmas wish would come true. She could only hope so.

* * *

><p>(¯`¥´¯`·.¸.:¨NIchiki ¨:.¸.·´¯`¥´¯)<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

Yuletide Lessons

Chapter 7

December 17th

* * *

><p>Lucy hummed along to 'Andy Williams' as she rolled the gingerbread dough out in flat, small circles and handed them to the two standing next to her. Frosch and Rogue were tasked with cutting the shapes of the gingerbread men and placing them on cookie sheets ready for a trip into the oven.<p>

"Hey Fro, how about we make some gingerbread girls too, so the guys won't get lonely?" She asked bringing out a tree cookie cutter.

"Yeah!" Her eyes went to Lucy's hands watching as she demonstrated how to make the girls.

Rogue frowned as he studied the cookie cutter in her hands and glanced down at the dough in confusion. "How's a tree cookie cutter going to look like a girl?"

Lucy giggled and brought the cutter down on the dough with flourish. "Just watch and see. I had the same dilemma a few years ago when I couldn't find one for the girls so I improvised."

Her hands worked deftly pushing the cutter down and removing the excess as she picked it up leaving a tree in its wake. "Ok, now look here. The bottom of the tree will be the skirt so all we do it cut the trunk off and replace it with a few pieces of dough for the legs. The two boughs on the side can be shaped a little more to look like arms, and for the head we just add a few pieces and shape them like so, and voila! We have created a gingerbread girl."

"Wow," Fro shouted. "Can Fro try too?"

"Sure you can. Here, go nuts." Lucy handed the cookie cutter over and watched as Fro mimicked her actions, her little tongue pushed out the side of her mouth in concentration.

"I would've never thought to use such a thing in that way, that was truly ingenious." Rogue said softly as he stepped up beside her watching his exceed fondly.

Lucy blushed waved her hand dismissively and went back to rolling out more dough. "Oh that wasn't so impressive. I just used what I had to make what I needed."

Rogue smiled at her embarrassment and her avoidance of his gaze as she continued to stare down at the dough as he loaded a cookie sheet into the oven to bake and leaned against the counter next to her. "Well that to me says you're intelligent, resourceful, and able to adapt to any situation, all impressive in my eyes."

Lucy froze and lifted her eyes to lock on his and suddenly couldn't breath at the warm gleam shining back in his red eyes, like he was staring into her soul and could read her every thought. She really hoped he couldn't at that moment because her thoughts manifested as a chicken with its head cut off running around and squawking. A disturbing image, but one that matched her scrambled thoughts.

"T-thank you," She whispered.

Her eyes went wide as he leaned in closer and for a split second hope bloomed in her chest that he was going to kiss her, but instead he brought a hand up and brushed a thumb across her cheek. He pulled it back and showed her the flour on the digit with a smile. "You're very welcome, Lucy." The deep timbre of his voice sent pleasant shivers down her spine as he moved back over to Fro who demonstrated the right way to make the cookies, his eyes kept locked onto hers until he broke the gaze to respond to Fro.

Lucy twirled back around and clutched her chest as her heart felt like it would burst out of her rib cage. What on earth was that just now? She peeked at him out the corner of her eye and gasped as he seemed to be doing the same and met her gaze with a knowing smirk. She pursed her lips holding back a smile as she snapped back to her work and noticed she was done. A thousand questions raced through her mind. Did he know how she felt about him? And if so, how did he feel about her in return? What did all this mean? Round and round they whirled in her mind without an answer in sight and she sighed softly shaking the confusion off with determination. She would test the theory and see just how he felt about her with gently prodding and touches just to see his reaction.

Lucy nodded to herself and squared her shoulders, she could do this. She just wished she could confide in someone and to ask some questions because she felt so lost and over her head. Her brow furrowed as she made a mental note to think of someone she could confide in with all this but for now she had guests.

She shook her head and sighed as she cleaned her utensils in the sink, watching as Rogue and Fro popped the rest in the oven, put the appropriate time in and set the timer. Drying her hands off she turned to them with a smile.

"Now while those bake I have something else we can do."

"Oooh, what? What are we gonna do now?" Fro bounced on her heels excitedly.

"Follow me." She led them to her living room and noticing all the different things scattered on her coffee table plopped down on the floor and immediately zeroed in on the three red socks sitting there.

"Frosch." Rogue said as he sat down next to her.

She paused, her paw hovering over the sock in curiosity and looked up at him with wide eyes.

"It's not nice to touch things without permission, you know that." He reprimanded gently.

"Fro's sorry." She replied, timidly retracting her paw.

Lucy settled down across them and smiled gently. "Oh that's alright. Those socks are our next project in fact." She nodded to the one Fro had been reaching for.

"You can have that one if you want sweety." She reached over and pushed another in Rogues direction and grabbed the last one.

"What are we gonna do with big socks?" Fro asked, curiously.

"Are these the same socks we've seen in some of those movies?" Rogue inquired, studying the oversized sock.

"Yup," Lucy nodded happily. "These are called Christmas stockings. They're usually hung over a fireplace since that's where Santa comes down," She paused and laughed at their incredulous expressions. "Oh right, haven't exactly explained all that, have I?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded. "Ok let's make our stockings and I'll tell you about Santa. Now, there aren't really anything you have to put on them, except to put your name at the top, after that anything goes. I have lots of glue so you can put sparkles and glitter on to your hearts content, and anything else you can think of."

Lucy started putting her name in frilly print in glue on the top and sprinkled gold glitter on top before shaking off the excess and started her tale s the two watched from across the table.

"Santa, or Santa Claus is a magical being that has a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer that flies all over the world in one night, delivering toys to everyone. His favorite point of entry is a fireplace and even though he's a rather large sort of man he can somehow fit down the chimneys with his huge red sack on his back full of gifts to put them under the tree and fill the stockings with goodies. But for the people without a fireplace, like say for instance me, they say he just comes in the front door..." She paused as Rogue helped Frosch spell her name with the glue and watched as she picked out some glitter accidentally spilling a large portion of it on the table.

Rogue looked up from cleaning the glitter and scrunched his brow as they seemed to stick to his hands and refused to let go. "So, this Santa Claus," He paused shaking his hands in frustration making Lucy and Fro giggle. "Flies around the world and delivers gifts, all on one night? That's indeed quite a feat."

Lucy pushed a rag across the table to him and he grabbed it trying to dislodge the pretty decorations from his hands. "That's right. Over the years the legend of him has grown and evolved into what it is today." She said resting her chin in her palm smiling as Rogue succeeded in scattering glitter all over the rug.

"Don't worry about it Rogue, once it gets into anything it's there to stay," She laughed and jumped up as the oven dinged. "Be right back," she shouted, dashing into the kitchen.

Rogue nodded and brushed his hands in his hair in frustration and then grabbed a bottle of glue, his eyes went to Lucy's sock and smiled as hers was covered in stars and keys. He looked over and noticed Fro had tried to do her own stars that came out sort of misshapen, but the overall shape was still there.

He tilted his head and considered what he would put on his own, finally deciding on a tree and a snowman, barely noticing the doorbell ringing in the distance until

Lucy entered the room with a familiar looking box.

"Is that another present Lucy?" Fro asked, her fur sticking up in places, pieces of paper stuck to her frog suit and glitter scattered around her.

Rogue looked up and noticed her blush. Seemed she was hoping to get the box by them without them noticing and she was stuck now.

Lucy smiled weakly and nodded before she dropped down gently and opened the box. The other two gathered around and as she pushed the packing peanuts aside a glass ball stared up at her. She gently picked it up and gasped at the snow globe.

The snow flurried inside and she squinted seeing an island inside.

"Fro thinks that's pretty." Fro hovered near the ball and oohed as she shook it again making the snow fly around wildly, before handing it out for the cat to take. "Here, you try."

Fro gasped softly. "Just be careful not to drop it." Lucy offered softly, and the cat nodded taking the globe with tender hands, walked over to Rogue to show him the treasure.

"Is there a note with this one too?" he asked, peering into the globe, but keeping an eye on the blonde.

Lucy shoved the packing peanuts around and spotted the paper. She pulled it out and scanned the words.

"What's this one say?" He asked and she lowered the paper with a becoming blush across her cheeks.

Biting her lip she wondered if it was a good idea to even accept these anymore. Perhaps she should just toss them out as she got them so Rogue wouldn't have to witness this every time, and she wouldn't feel so torn about the situation.

"Lucy." She started at his voice and cleared her throat.

"It says: There's no one I'd rather be stuck with on an island, than you."

"Hmm," he mused, his face reflected curiosity as he studied the globe. "Whoever this is, has a way with words it seems."

She bit her lip harder. "Boy, that's for sure." She murmured silently, but not quite enough to miss a dragon slayers ears.

Lucy looked back up and burst into laughter, confusing Rogue.

"You've got glitter all over in your hair," She wheezed out and Fro turned to look at him with a smile.

"Rogue matches Fro!"

Rogue chuckled and ruffled the cats hair fondly. "Yeah, I guess we do."

* * *

><p>(¯`¥´¯`·.¸.:¨NIchiki ¨:.¸.·´¯`¥´¯) <p>


	8. Chapter 8

Yuletide Lessons

Chapter 8

December 18th

* * *

><p>"Natsu, please try to remember that the tree is flammable and keep your powers under wraps!" Mira shouted as a group of guys lugged the huge tree through the guild doors.<p>

"Hey, it wasn't my fault last years tree went up like a Roman Candle! No one told me the darn thing had been flocked in the first place!" He shouted back grunting as he pulled harder.

"That shouldn't matter you idiot! Whether it was flocked or not you never should've used your powers around the damn tree in the first place!" Gray shouted, getting into the dragon slayers face as they continued to pull.

"I was only trying to get the thing through the doors faster you perverted Ice Pop!"

"No one asked you to, you Moronic Matchstick!"

Lucy watched as the arguing seemed to fuel the pulling, and wondered if the tree would catch fire on the friction from the ground faster than Natsu's powers.

"Do you think they realize they're the only ones pulling the tree now?" Rogue whispered as most of the guys had stopped pulling and were watching the spectacle laughing.

"Nah, they're so engrossed in their little spat they probably won't realize it until they pull it through the guild and halfway across Magnolia unless..."

Lucy left off just as the two really started going at it, hands let go of the ropes and fists started flying. "Unless that happens." She laughed.

Mira threw her hands up in frustration. "Why does this always happen? You two outside with that! I don't want you messing up our tree!"

Gajeel rolled his eyes and corralled the two fighting idiots outside before they could do much damage. "I got this Mira."

"Thank goodness, last year we went through at least four trees because of those two." Mira sighed, rubbing her temples. "Erza can you stand at the door and make sure they stay out there until they stop fighting?"

The redhead nodded and moved to stand in front of the doors closing them behind her.

"Is it always like this during Christmas?" Rogue asked.

Lucy snorted. "Worse! Those two are like an old married couple with their spats and I have no clue where they come up with half the names they spout."

Beside her Levy lowered her book with a giggle. "Boy, that's for sure."

A tankard was plopped down on the table as Cana dropped in the seat across from them. "Married, HA! Good one Lucy. Can you imagine the kids those two would pop out? Say..." She paused with the tankard halfway to her lips as she looked at the closed doors, the shouts could still be heard from outside. "Who do you think would be the woman in that relationship?"

Rogue's eyes bugged as he choked, while Levy and Lucy burst out laughing.

"Oh Gods, I can't even imagine, could you Levy?" Lucy snorted, clutching her stomach in laughter.

Levy wiped a tear from her eye and caught her breath. "That would be a sight to see, no doubt. If either of them would turn into a woman, heaven help us, is all I say."

Fro plopped down on Rogue's shoulder and poked his cheek getting his attention. "Yes, Frosch?" Rogue winced, wondering what she was going to ask and hoping most of the conversation went over her head.

"Fro's confused. Both of them are boys, so how could they make babi..."

"Here Fro, have some of Mira's famous hot chocolate!" Lucy chirped loudly, shoving a mug across the table.

"Oh yum. Fro thanks you!" She shouted, scrambling onto the table and taking a big gulp.

Lucy smirked and looked at Rogue who sighed in relief. "You just gotta know how to handle kids."

She shrugged at his awed look. "Most have really short attention spans and anything sweet helps too."

They turned back to the tree seeing a transformed Elfman standing it upright into a tree stand along with a few other guys while Mira directed the men to tilt it this way or that, trying to make it straight.

"No, more to the left guys. No, your left. Gah, too much, now go back to the right."

Levy sighed with a smile as she went back to her book. "They're gonna be at that for a while. Mira's such a little perfectionist on anything to do with Christmas."

Cana snorted. "Tell me about it. She had me hanging mistletoe last year all over the damn place and they all had to be spaced the same distance apart, exactly."

"Why" Rogue asked.

She shrugged. "Beats me. All I managed to get out of her was crazy rambling of traps and surprising people."

"What?" He said, apprehensive, his eyes going back to the take over mage still shouting instructions.

Lucy giggled and placed a hand on his arm. "Oh don't worry too much about it. She gets like that every year when it has something to do with relationships."

"You should see her around Valentines day." Levy shivered. "There's more than one reason she's referred to as a 'she-devil'."

Rogue looked even more panicked.

"Just don't let her corner you when she has that dark gleam in her eyes." Cana remarked and leveled a stern stare at him. "And if she starts rambling about babies, make a mad dash for the door. You seriously don't wanna be around to see what she comes up with."

Rogue nodded just as a hand plopped onto his shoulder making him jump, only to squelch a terrified squeak at whose hand it was.

"Hey guys, what are we talking about over here?" Mira asked leaning in close, curiosity shining in her eyes.

Rogue's eyes went wide and he desperately shot looks at the girls around him.

"Oh, we were wondering what sort of stuff we are going to do at the Christmas party this year," Lucy piped up.

"Mhmm." Cana responded. "We are going to have your eggnog this year, right?"

Mira cocked a brow and smiled, which made Rogue finally relax somewhat. He didn't want her spilling the beans about their little talk.

"Oh have no fear. There will be a ton of food, lots of fun stuff for everyone and yes, we will have eggnog for you to spike just like you do every year Cana." She replied, rolling her eyes.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Cana, said, smirking into her cup as she strolled off to get a refill.

The girls laughed as Rogue looked confused. "She does that every year." Lucy explained.

"And we have yet to actually catch her doing it." Levy piped up.

"She's definitely gotten more crafty over the years," Mira sighed before looking at Lucy.

"Oh right, I almost forgot. This came for you Lucy." She said handing over a box to the blond.

"How did..." She faltered, taking the box.

"Early Christmas present Lucy?" Levy inquired, leaning in to look at the box. "Wait, there's nothing saying whose it's from except 'open me', weird."

Fro smacked her chocolate rimmed lips. "Yeah, Lucy's got a secwet panda."

Mira laughed as Lucy turned red.

"I believe you mean 'Secret Santa' Frosch." Rogue chuckled as he reached over and wiped the cats mouth.

"Well, you gonna open it Lucy?" Mira clasped her hands bouncing on her heels in excitement.

"Erm, I was gonna wait til I got home."

"Aww come on. I'm dying to see what you got and the tag says open me." Mira pouted.

Lucy looked from Levy to Mira and then her eyes landed on Rogue who was preoccupied with cleaning up Fro and sighed.

"Oh alright." She tore the tape from the edges and opened the lid carefully, wondering what this one would contain. Lucy leaned in as four other heads did the same as she pushed the packing peanuts around and grabbed onto something hard. Gingerly she lifted the object and gasps came from all around as the most gorgeous compass she'd ever seen met their eyes. It looked like it was made from gold and as she turned it in her hands carefully, little specks glittered out from the surface.

"That's beautiful Lucy." Mira whispered.

"It looks expensive." Levy Murmured in wonder before she pointed. "Look, its got stars and keys all over it."

"Somebody knows what you like Lucy." Mira replied.

"Is there a note with this one too?" Rogue asked.

"Too?" Levy piped up.

Both girls looked to Lucy as she rummaged the bottom of the box deliberately ignoring their questioning gazes and pulled out a piece of paper.

"Yeah," Fro shouted. "Lucy's gotten some before this."

"You don't say." Mira murmured, looking interested as she leaned in towards the blonde.

"So, what does the note say?"

Lucy sighed, wondering how she was going to dodge the Take-Over Mage now that she'd clearly scented something to do with romance.

"It says," She blushed. "No matter where you are, if you are lost I will find you." She muttered.

Mira gasped, sparkles in her eyes looking wistful. "How romantic."

"Sounds like something straight out of a romance novel," Levy said sighing along with Mira.

Lucy peaked at Rogue and noticed his mouth quirked into a sort of smile, before it vanished. 'The heck was that about?' She wondered.

"Ok," She shouted jumping up suddenly. "We've gotta go hang our stockings you two. Come on!" She pulled Rogue to his feet and out the door, Fro flying beside them trying to keep up.

* * *

><p>Lucy sighed as she hung her stocking on the wall, her eyes went to the pair beside her doing the same. Fro's little voice filtered into her ears as she studied the dragon slayer secretly.<p>

'I wonder what he's thinking about? I'm confused about all this and I have no idea who this secret Santa could be so I can only imagine what he must be thinking.' She froze as a thought ran across her mind and she narrowed her eyes. 'Could he have an idea who it is? He's got a great sense of smell so he might know… but the question is, does he? And would he keep something like that from me?'

Her eyes took his posture in silently. He was calm, and relaxed as he answered his exceed and glanced over briefly offering a shy smile.

She smiled back as she focused back on her sock, her fingers traced over the letters of her name gently. 'I really don't think he knows anything, but I need to ask someone about this or I'll go crazy. This confusion, this split inside me is tearing me apart. How can I possibly choose between two people, one whose captured my heart with his shy demeanor and gentle ways. And the other who I know nothing about but seems to know the way to my heart anyways. How can someone I know nothing about know so much about me?'

Lucy had a feeling that until she asked someone with more knowledge than her about the matters of the heart she would never get anywhere like this.

* * *

><p>(¯`¥´¯`·.¸.:¨NIchiki ¨:.¸.·´¯`¥´¯) <p>


	9. Chapter 9

Yuletide Lessons

Chapter 9

December 19th

* * *

><p>"You couldn't possibly understand my feelings!"<p>

"You're right, I don't understand. I don't understand how you can be so confused over something like this!"

"It's not like I meant for this to happen. I didn't ask for this."

"Whether you asked for it or not you've got it. Now the question is, what will you do about it? Because I won't wait forever."

"What does that mean? Are you giving me an ultimatum?"

"No, I'm giving you a choice and you'd better think long and hard about it or you'll end up alone."

"Don't you walk away from me. We aren't finished."

"There's nothing more I have to say at this point. Figure out what you truly want and if it's me you want, then I'll be around."

The screen faded to black.

"Wow, can we say ironic? The heck am I watching anyways?" Lucy mumbled, as the show went to commercial.

She was still so confused and torn. What the heck should she do about all this? At first it hadn't been a problem, more like a nuisance. But now, now she didn't know. The constant thoughtful and rather romantic gifts she was receiving weighed heavily upon her conscience. She knew she would continue to go in circles until she managed to find somebody to talk to about all this. Lucy sighed and glanced at the clock finding it after five, wondering what Rogue was up to at the moment. He'd said he would be busy today with a few errands that couldn't wait but would be free tomorrow for more Christmas stuff. She couldn't believe how bored and sad she felt without his presence around her.

How much more livelier the room was with Fro's cute little voice bouncing around. How his calm demeanor always seemed to make her relax without her even noticing.

"I wonder what I'll do when Christmas is over and he'll have to go back to his guild?" She mused aloud, feeling a pang of sadness overwhelm her. Over these few weeks she'd come to look forward to his presence around her and she didn't want to go back to how it was before. No, she wouldn't. She had to figure this out. Lucy stood and grabbed her coat, buckled her boots and scrambled out the door intent on getting to the guild. She didn't know who she would find but she needed to get this off her chest or she would explode. Her heart thundered in her ears and she relaxed a bit seeing the huge building ahead of her. Lucy wasted no time flinging open the heavy door and closed it quickly behind her shutting out the cold winds. She dusted the snow off her coat and looked around as a chorus of "Hey there Lucy," "Hi Lucy!" Welcomed her. She waved back with a smile and scanned the few people inside. Her eyes lit on Levy and Erza at the bar and made her way towards them keeping a lookout for the she-devil.

"Hey Levy, Erza." She smiled as she took a seat besides the redhead.

Levy lowered her book and smiled back. "Hey there Lucy! What brings you to the guild?"

"Good evening Lucy. I trust you're well?" Erza inquired as she shoveled another piece of cake into her mouth.

"Um yeah about that." She faltered looking around one more time for that head of white hair before leaning closer to the women.

"Something wrong Lucy?" Levy whispered, looking around too wondering what she was trying to find.

"Someone bothering you Lucy?" Erza demanded softly.

Lucy waved her arms. "No no, nothing like that. But… It's just..." She sighed looking down and fiddled with the zipper on her jacket.

Levy got up and slipped onto the stool next to the blonde setting her hand on her shoulder getting her attention with a comforting smile.

"It's ok Lucy. Whatever you need to talk about we'll listen and try to help. So just take a deep breath and let's hear what's bothering you."

Erza nodded as she turned to give the blonde her full attention.

"Ok see it's like this. There's this guy I really like and I've been spending a lot of time with him recently, but I have no idea if he likes me in the same way."

"Ah, I see. So you wish to know if this young man returns your feelings?" Erza asked.

"Yeah," Lucy nodded. "But that's not all."

"Go on." Levy urged.

"Well for a couple of days now I've gotten some gifts and they aren't just any old gifts either. These are well thought out complete with endearing messages attached and I have no clue who's sending them."

"Oh, you mean like that one you got here yesterday?" Levy asked.

"Yeah." Lucy frowned. "But until these gifts came I thought my feelings were clear and my heart knew who it wanted." She glanced from Levy to Erza. "But now I'm so confused." She whispered.

"What's confusing you Lucy?" Levy asked.

She threw her hands up in frustration. "Everything. I know I like this guy and if the gifts had been ordinary ones instead of thoughtful romantic ones I wouldn't be having this problem."

Levy nodded. "So, you're torn between a guy you like and this mystery person whose showering you with romantic gifts."

Lucy nodded and bit her lip.

"I can see how this would be frustrating indeed." Erza replied, crossing her arms.

"My heart was set on this guy and then this had to happen and it threw everything else into confusion and now I'm so lost."

The girl's looked thoughtful before Levy piped up. "Hey, what about trying to find out who this mystery person is? Maybe if you found out you could figure out if they would be someone you want to be with?"

Lucy leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. "Yeah I've thought about that too." She frowned and looked down at the bar. "But I can't ask Ro..." She faltered as she almost blurted out his name, only to frown as the two women smiled gently.

"Oh Lucy, it's not as if we don't have any clue as to who it is you like." Levy giggled.

"You mean you guys know?" Lucy whispered, her eyes going wide.

"Well we are your family Lucy so anything that affects you affects us, and we aren't as oblivious as the boys." Erza responded with a laugh.

"Oh," Lucy replied. "Well in that case I don't have to talk in riddles with you two. But back to my point. There's no way I can ask Rogue to help me, I'm not even sure how he feels about this mystery person sending me gifts, or if he even cares."

"What makes you think he doesn't care?" Levy asked.

The blonde shrugged. "I don't know how he feels, that's part of the problem."

The girls fell silent for a moment until another voice piped up.

"I think perhaps you should just relax, let things develop and see how this all turns out."

The girls looked up to see the gently smiling face of Mira leaning on the bar.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

The barmaid shrugged slightly. "Don't worry too much about it. When you just let things play out, things have a way of working themselves out. No use working yourself into a mental wreck over this."

Lucy was stunned. Here was Mira not only not going off into one of her relationship fantasies, but she was also being extremely calm and helpful. Did the world turn upside down while she wasn't looking?

"Here Lucy," She pushed a tin towards the blond. "Take this home and brew some up. It's herbal tea that helps relax the body and mind, sounds like you need it." She patted the blonde's hand softly. "Now, go home and get some rest and try not to over think things, ok?"

Lucy nodded slowly with a small smile, slipped the tin in her pocket as she made her way to the door. "I'll talk to you guys later." She turned back and waved at the three women. "Thanks you guys, that helped a lot." Before she went out the door.

"Poor Lucy," Levy murmured still gazing at the door. "I hope she figures it all out."

Mira patted her hand soothingly. "I'm sure everything will turn out just fine."

* * *

><p>Lucy felt marginally better as she stamped her feet up the stairs to her apartment only to pause seeing a bag hanging from her door knob.<p>

"Huh, looks like I got another one." She grabbed it, opened her door, shutting it and locking it behind her. "Wonder what's in this one?"

She hung up her coat and slipped off her boots approaching the bag sitting on the kitchen table with a sigh. "Alright, everything will be ok. Don't over think things." She kept muttering to herself as she opened the bag and brought out a delicate looking watch on a chain, making her breath whoosh out.

"It's gorgeous." She whispered, but try as she might she couldn't find a note, so disappointed she studied the watch and noticed a latch on the side.

"Looks like it opens."

She fiddled with it for a few minutes before finally managing to open it and found an engraving on the inside.

"I will always have time for you." She whispered in awe. Lucy traced over the engraving gently with a finger as she got lost within her thoughts again.

"I hope Mira was right, because this is just getting more and more complicated." She groaned.

* * *

><p>(¯`¥´¯`·.¸.:¨NIchiki ¨:.¸.·´¯`¥´¯)<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

Yuletide Lessons

Chapter 10

December 20th

* * *

><p>Rogue grabbed a large blanket from the back of the couch and threw it across Lucy's lap as she settled against the cushions with a book and sat beside her. He made sure to sit a bit closer than normal, but hoped that because he wanted to see the pictures in the book she was going to read, it wouldn't cross her mind as odd.<p>

"Come here Frosch, you can sit on our laps while she reads," Rogue said softly, beckoning to the hovering cat.

"Whats the book called?" She asked, fluttering down as Lucy brought the cover up for both of them to see.

"It's called 'The Night Before Christmas' and it's sort of a tradition to recite it in most families." Lucy explained opening the book.

"Did your family do this as well?" Rogue asked softly, hoping he wasn't overstepping his bounds as he brought up what might be a painful subject.

Lucy smiled wistfully, her fingers tracing the drawings fondly as Rogue and Fro looked on. "Yeah, momma always insisted every year. No matter what was going on, how busy everyone was that we stuck to the tradition." Her eyes glazed over, no longer seeing the pages. "Even when she got terribly sick, she still managed to keep to the tradition."

The soft lights of the tree flickered softly across her features and he could see how the past memories flitted past her eyes, and he never felt a more kinship then he did at that moment. It was one of the things he could relate to and though it might sound odd to anybody else, the fact that they could connect through their sadness gave him a sense of relief. He was sad of course she hadn't had a very good childhood, but being able to sympathize with her helped bring them together even closer. He just wished it wouldn't cause her such pain, but he liked being the one she could share her anguish with.

The tense atmosphere was dispersed as Fro broke the silence.

"Can we start Lucy?"

Lucy jumped slightly and smiled down at the cat. "Of course. Ok let me see here."

**"Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house**

**Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."**

"What were they supposed to be stirring?" Fro asked confused.

Rogue chuckled as Lucy giggled and shook her head. "Wrong kind of stirring sweetie."

"They mean none of the creatures were running around." Rogue explained.

Fro's mouth went into a little 'o'. "Ohhh, well why didn't they just say that?"

"It's just how they used to talk back in the old days Fro." Lucy explained and continued.

**"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,**

**In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there."**

"Whose St. Nicholas? I thought it was Santa Claus that brought the presents." Rogue asked confused.

"Ahh yeah forgot to mention that." Lucy muttered. "St. Nicholas is just another name they have for Santa Claus."

"Ah I see. So was he an actual saint then?"

Lucy pondered for a minute. "There was an actual St. Nicholas, so the legend of Santa could've been derived from him."

**"The children were nestled all snug in their beds,**

**While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads."**

"What are sugar plums and why did they dance on their heads?" Fro asked.

"Sugar plums are a sort of sweet and they danced in their heads, not on." Lucy laughed.

**"And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,**

**Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap."**

"So, in other words they had gone to sleep." Rogue said.

"Yup."

**"When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,**

**I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.**

**Away to the window I flew like a flash,**

**Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash."**

Before she could ask Lucy translated. "He ran to the window to see what had made such a big noise." Fro nodded.

**"The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow**

**Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.**

**When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,**

**But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer."**

"Santa!" Fro whispered excitedly.

**"With a little old driver, so lively and quick,**

**I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.**

**More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,**

**And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!"**

"Fro's never seen a reindeer fly, how come these can?" Fro asked.

"Well..." Lucy faltered and caught Rogues eyes.

"These are special reindeer so they are different from regular ones." Rogue explained, smiling as Lucy sighed in relief.

**"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!**

**On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!**

**To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!**

**Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"**

"Hey where's Rudolph?"

Rogue turned to look at Lucy.

"Erm well, he had to stay home because he was sick?" She said lamely.

"Oh, ok." Fro replied and they met each others stare over her head with a smile.

'Ya know I always wondered that myself.' She pondered.

**"As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,**

**When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.**

**So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,**

**With the sleigh full of Toys, and St. Nicholas too."**

"Will Santa bring Fro toys too?"

"Have you been good?" Lucy asked.

Her brows furrowed as she gazed up at Rogue for confirmation. He chuckled in response and nodded. "Well I think you've been very good Fro."

She looked back at Lucy and smiled happily. "Then you have nothing to worry about."

**"And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof**

**The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.**

**As I drew in my head, and was turning around,**

**Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound."**

"I bet they are very noisy." Fro muttered, her little paws tracing the drawings.

"You would think so, " Rogue replied. "Makes me wonder how the roof can handle such weight."

**"He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,**

**And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.**

**A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,**

**And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack."**

"Bet Misses Claus hates washing his clothes." Lucy muttered.

**"His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!**

**His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!**

**His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,**

**And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow."**

"Fro loves cherries!"

"You know I can almost see Master Makarov looking like this, if he were taller, fatter and had a beard." Lucy laughed.

"A sight to behold for sure." Rogue replied. "Though I doubt you'd want him driving a sleigh in that condition. Nose red, indeed." he chuckled, sharing a laugh with Lucy.

**"The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,**

**And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.**

**He had a broad face and a little round belly,**

**That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!"**

They shared another laugh at that.

"Oh man if that doesn't sound like Master I don't know what does!"

"All he would need to do was call everyone brats." Rogue retorted dryly.

**"He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,**

**And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!**

**A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,**

**Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread."**

"I know I would be rather surprised to find a stranger in my house at that hour." Lucy muttered.

"But he's not a stranger, he's Santa!" Fro insisted.

"Of course, my mistake," Lucy replied with a smile.

**"He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,**

**And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.**

**And laying his finger aside of his nose,**

**And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!"**

"How does poking his nose that make him go up the chimney?" Fro asked confused.

Both Rogue and Lucy busted out laughing. "He didn't poke his nose, he just touched the side of it and I think it's just one of the things only he can do."

**"He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,**

**And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.**

**But I heard him exclaim, 'ere he drove out of sight,**

**Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!****"**

Lucy finished with a sigh, closing the book, her gaze meeting Rogue's and she blushed seeing a warm glow shining back.

"Fro thought that was a good story." Fro whispered, yawning as her eyes drooped.

Rogue nodded and softly threaded his fingers through the cat's fur as Lucy tucked the blanket around the sleepy feline.

She softly patted the blanket and stilled as Rogue's hand laid over hers, her eyes snapped to his as his thumb brushed over her hand before pulling back, his attention going to the tree glowing in the corner. It was nice sitting there in the quiet atmosphere, the soft flickering of the lights refracted around the room, the snow falling gently against the windows. Lucy however was still looking towards the dragon slayer, wondering yet again if she'd just imagined that small tender moment. The brief touches were just that, brief, never lasting more than a fleeting moment and could be construed as friendly touches. But yet she wondered if they meant something more or if her mind was just putting what she wished would happen in front of her. A sigh escaped her lips drawing Rogues attention back to her.

"We should probably go," he whispered, glancing down at the now slumbering exceed.

"You could stay, if you want." Lucy whispered back. "That way you won't have to wake Fro up unnecessarily and stay warm."

His eyes searched hers for a moment. "You sure you wouldn't mind?" he pressed.

"I like having you guys here."

He nodded briefly as she got up slowly to not disturb the cat and started towards her room. "Sleep well, Lucy." His voice drifted across the room and she turned to give him a shy smile.

"You too Rogue."

She still had a smile as she approached her bed, but as she turned the blankets down she stilled, narrowing her eyes as she spotted something on her pillow. She reached out and grabbed it, bringing it closer.

"A fortune cookie," She said confused. "How did that get here?" Shrugging she broke it open and held the little paper up to her eyes and gasped.

"I was lucky the day I met you." Her eyes searched the room before glancing back towards her door. "Who… how did this get here, when we were here all day?" She knew whoever was doing this was much more craftier than she'd first realized and again she wondered just who this was. Her gaze went back to her door with a wistful sigh. If only they would just tell her who they were then maybe some things could be resolved. She just didn't know how much more mystery she could take until she exploded from curiosity.

* * *

><p>(¯`¥´¯`·.¸.:¨NIchiki ¨:.¸.·´¯`¥´¯)<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

Yuletide Lessons

Chapter 11

December 21st

* * *

><p>Lucy absently hung lights around the guild as her mind continued to be a thousand miles away. Fairy Tail was getting ready for their annual Christmas Party and everyone was pitching in to help. Most of the guys were outside working on the exterior, while the girls decorated the inside. Fro and Rogue even pitched in, helping with the humongous tree as Mira, walked around spouting orders. She was in her perfectionist mode full throttle and no one wanted to get in her way, which is why most of the guys volunteered to do the outside. But Lucy wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings, which was probably how Levy managed to sneak up on her and almost made her fall off the ladder.<p>

"Oh my gosh Levy! You scared the crap outta me!" She shouted laughing as she clutched her chest.

"Sorry 'bout that." She replied, steadying the ladder as Lucy climbed down. "I couldn't help but notice your far away look and wondered how you were doing."

Lucy leaned back against the wall and sighed, her eyes zeroed in on Rogue who was helping wind the many strings of light on the huge tree.

"I don't know Lev. I know Mira told me to just let things play out and I've tried so far, but I can't help but keep going over everything."

The Script Mage nodded, her gaze following where Lucy was looking.

"And something also struck my mind last night when I found another present hanging on my door."

"Another one?" Levy whispered, leaning closer as Lucy fished the chain the watch was on around her neck out from her shirt.

"Wow, that's gorgeous," She murmured.

"Open the back." Lucy turned it over for her.

Levy pried open the cover and gasped as she read the words Lucy had the night before and gently laid it back on the blonde's shirt. "I can see why this would confuse you. So, what was it that struck your mind?"

"Well," She shifted looking uneasy. "I can't help but wonder if I am truly shallow."

Levy gasped and turned a stern stare at the blond. "Lucy! Why on earth would you say such a thing? You're the most caring and thoughtful person I know."

"But what if I am only confused about all of this because all these gifts are so expensive and gorgeous?"

Levy frowned and shook her head. "I don't believe that for a second and neither should you." She stuck her hands on her hips as she faced the blond. "I know you've grown up with all the luxuries at your fingertips, but never once have I ever seen you act like a snobby twit, like most rich people are."

Lucy sighed, bowing her head. "But that's the thing. Maybe deep down I'm longing for that kind of life again and since this person seems to be able to buy me what I was once used to..." She trailed off.

"Lucy, look a me." Lucy's eyes snapped up to Levy's and she froze seeing such a fire in her eyes shining back at her and the voice was so stern it just didn't seem that it should come out of such a bubbly girl like her.

"There is a reason you ran away from home Lucy, multiple reasons in fact. So why on earth would you voluntarily wish to go back to the way everything was when you were miserable?"

Lucy faltered, not really knowing what to say to all that.

"For as long as I've know you, money hasn't been that big of a deal, except for your rent of course." She giggled and Lucy smiled. "But other then that, your world doesn't revolve around money." She paused and turned to the side, her eyes landing on a certain dragon slayer. "I think what's really gotten to you is the uncertainty of everything and the fact that you don't know how he feels about you. So, the fact that you keep getting these mysterious and wonderful gifts from someone who obviously admires you and to me sounds like they wish for something more then friendship with you, has you going in circles."

"I mean on the one hand you have the one your heart is set on. Admirable, loyal, shy at times, smart, fun when you get him to open up, but yet you have no clue how he sees you."

Lucy nodded, her words hitting the problem straight on and she was amazed at just how insightful the Script Mage was, but remembered that Levy had always been very intelligent so it couldn't have been too much of a surprise.

"And on the other hand you have someone lavishing you with lovely gifts, complete with endearments that I for one think belong in a movie, and pretty much declaring his love for you in so many words. So in all likelihood you possibly have a chance for something with this mystery person and that seems like the sure thing. But the one your heart wants hasn't yet made a move, so you're being pulled back and forth over this and it's driving you up the wall."

"You've pretty much hit the nail on the head Lev."

"Personally I've never been in your situation so I can't say too much about how you can fix this." She started, her eyes capturing Lucy's. "But perhaps if you knew how he," She jerked her head in the direction of the tree. "Felt, then maybe you could make a decision when the time was right because I have a feeling everything is going to come to a head at the Fairy Tail Christmas party."

Lucy snapped out of her melancholy thoughts. "You don't think my mystery guy will show up at the party and cause a scene do you?"

Levy shrugged. "It's a strong possibility, seeing as how everyday you've gotten a gift and what better time to declare your love then at Christmas."

Lucy bit her lip as Rogue turned and gave her a small wave. She smiled weakly back as he returned to the tree.

"Rogue's supposed to be there though!" She hissed.

"I know, that's why you should have a good long think about how you want to approach this. I think we should figure out how 'he' feels about you before you're put in the spot light." She used quotations for emphasis.

"How can we do that?"

Levy tilted her head in thought. "Well, how about I have a chat with him and sort of steer the conversation towards you, just to see how he reacts to certain things."

"Oh Levy I can't ask you to do that."

Levy flipped her hand. "Oh it's no bother, especially if I can prevent one of my best friends from pulling her hair out."

Lucy looked from the Script Mage over to Rogue and back, wringing her fingers anxiously, before she sighed and hung her head. "Ok ok, I leave everything in your capable hands then Levy."

"I will do my best Lucy." She smiled. "Oh and before I forget something arrived for you a little while ago and I wanted to talk to you before I gave this to you so you wouldn't get any more distressed." She brought a package out from behind her back and handed it over.

"How do they always know where I'll be?" Lucy muttered as she opened the package.

Levy shrugged. "Maybe your mystery guy is closer than we think."

Lucy paused and scanned the room for anyone staring at them, but after finding none went back to her package.

"I wonder..." She dumped the contents out into her hand and both girls gasped at what stared back at them. It was a key, a very old key by the looks of it and made out of some kind of rose colored metal.

"Lucy, I think that's made of rose gold." She whispered.

Lucy's mouth went dry as she turned the key in her hand, studying the angles. She knew it wasn't a celestial key by any means because she couldn't feel any magical energy from it, but she wondered at the heart shaped hole on the top. She handed it over to Levy and dived back into the package finding another note. She pulled it out and read it out loud enough for Levy to hear but no one else.

"You hold the key to my heart."

"Wow, these notes just get more and more romantic don't they?" Levy replied wistfully.

Lucy nodded and sighed as she ran her finger along the edge of the key.

Levy wrapped her arm around the blonde's waist and pulled her in for a small hug.

"Don't worry Lu. We'll figure this out."

"I hope so Lev, cause I really don't think my heart can take this any longer."

"With my help, we'll find out how your 'guy' feels about you no sweat!" She gushed with a grin and Lucy couldn't help mirror her expression.

"Trust me Lu, I've got your back girl. And if I need to I'll enlist Cana to help me pin him down."

Lucy laughed softly, imagining the interrogating session between those three.

"That I would love to see."

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><p>(¯`¥´¯`·.¸.:¨NIchiki ¨:.¸.·´¯`¥´¯)<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

Yuletide Lessons

Chapter 12

December 22nd

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><p>"For the last time no Natsu, these are for the children in the orphanage. You'll just have to wait." Mira shooed Natsu out the kitchen door. "If you're that starving I'll fix you something in a little while, now get. We have a lot to do before we're ready and you still have things to put up out there."<p>

"Aww Mira, those look so good though." He whined as the door swung closed.

Lucy laughed softly and shook her head. Didn't matter what was happening around them Natsu would always remain the same, goofy, lovable and always hungry. "I'll fix you something ok Natsu?"

"You're the best Luce, thanks!" His muffled reply came from behind the door.

The girls shook their heads and shared a laugh.

"He'll never change," Mira mused, rolling out some dough for the sugar cookies.

"Ya know I don't think I'd ever want him to change, things just wouldn't be the same around here." Kinana murmured.

Laki snorted as she cut shapes in the dough. "Boy that's for sure. That would be like Gray never stripping again."

"Perish the thought Laki!" Lucy gasped in mock outrage.

Sharing another laugh they delved back into their cooking. Every year Fairy Tail makes a huge feast and shops for some gifts for the local orphanage. They all deliver everything the day before Christmas clad in costumes much to the enjoyment of the kids. Master Makarov makes a rather small and grumpy Santa, but still smiles for the children while everyone else is dressed as an elf. Lucy rather liked her elf costume, seeing that she'd fixed the lines to fit more towards her body and helped some of the other girls as well. She always loved dressing up and to get to do so and bring smiles to a child's face was the best gift she could ask for.

She frowned as the thought of gifts inadvertently brought up her immediate situation. Her hands moved automatically as she once again got lost within her thoughts only to jump when someone laid their hand upon her arm. She squeaked in surprise until her eyes meet warm hazel and slumps down in relief.

"Geez Levy, you're bound and determined to scare me into an early grave aren't you?" She laughed nervously.

Levy cocks her head and studied the blond. "You know Lu, it's not like you to space out this much, this has you really worried huh?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty much always on my mind. It seems I can never go too long without something bringing it back up again."

"Well don't worry Lu. As soon as Rogue shows up I'll do some interrogating and we'll figure out just what he feels for you."

"Oh Levy, you know you don't have to..."

"Think nothing of it. You're a part of our family and I promised to help, so I will."

Lucy sighed and went back to stirring the stew in her pot. "I'm not even sure he's gonna be here today. He's had a few things to do over the past few days so..."

"LUCY!"

Suddenly a green blur flung the door open with a bang, flew into the kitchen at high speeds and connected with Lucy's stomach forcing the air out of her lungs in a whoosh.

"OOF! What the?"

"Fro missed you!" The green blur shouted, her little voice muffled by Lucy's apron until she lifted her head to look up at the blonde with a grin.

The other girls smiled and said their hellos as well. They all loved the cute little cat and always welcomed her.

"Fro!" She squealed happily, tossing the exceed into the air and catching her and hugged her to her chest. "I missed you too! Where's Rogue?"

"Right here." Lucy's eyes snapped to the kitchen door and spotted Rogue leaning against the door jam with a small smile on his face. He nodded to the girls as they said their hellos politely and fixed his stare back on the blonde who was flushing under his scrutiny. All the while Levy looked between the two, noticing every subtle twitch between them with narrowed eyes.

"We had a few things to do in town." He explained with a smile.

Mira watched it all from the corner of her eye and she turned with a secretive smile. "Hey Rogue?" He turned to regard her with a curious look. "We're so swamped in here that I don't have time to go out there and oversee the decorations, would you mind going out there and keeping an eye on things?"

He stood there uncertainly for a moment. "Are you sure? I'm still really new to all this Christmas stuff."

Mira waved her hand. "Oh don't worry. All you'd have to do is make sure things get set up properly and if the guys get out of line like say, Natsu or Gray again, then you could break them up no sweat. Or come get me and I'll break them up."

He looked from Mira to Lucy and back again. "You're sure?"

"Yeah, you'll be a great help to me if you did and I'll even make you something in return. I'll bring it out to you in a bit."

Rogue nodded and with a small smile walked back out the door, Fro on his heels.

Mira caught Lucy's eye and she smirked. "All it takes is the mention of free food and they always say yes."

With a laugh the girls went back to cooking as Levy sidled up closer to Lucy. "I think I'm gonna go see what I can do out there since I can't cook to save my life."

She winked at Lucy, making her way out the door as well.

Lucy knew that was her subtle way of saying she would begin the interrogation, and hurried out with some stew for Natsu and Rogue. Perhaps if she could get out there in time she could catch some of what would be said.

"I'll take Rogue out some stew along with Natsu, Mira." She said balancing a tray with two bowls and a smaller one for Happy, some bread and drinks as she opened the door.

"Thanks Lucy." Mira replied, adding more flour to the mix with a secretive smile.

She spotted Natsu and Happy as they helped hang mistletoe along the ceiling, but her eyes continued scanning the room, finally landing on Rogue who was standing to the side watching Gray do some magic. She immediately saw Levy who had used the excuse of watching Gray perform as well to get close to him as she set the food down for Natsu.

"Natsu, I've got your food here!" She shouted.

Natsu leapt off the ladder with a grin and plopped down to start shoveling in the food mumbling his thanks as Happy dipped some bread in his.

Lucy nodded absently as she sat down across from Natsu, her attention focused on the trio a few feet away. She tilted her head and strained to hear as they spoke.

"So Rogue, how have you been? Everyone been treating you ok?"

"Yes, everyone's been very welcoming."

"I hope you don't think we hold anything against you for what happened at the GMG."

Rogue turned to regard her with a questioning look.

"Yeah, that wasn't your fault ya know." Cana piped up with a hand on her hip as she approached.

"How did you..." He faltered.

"Oh come on. Every time we saw you it always seemed to be there in your eyes when you looked at Lucy. A haunted look that doesn't need to be there." Cana leveled a stern gaze at him.

"But..."

"Look, Lucy doesn't blame you for what Minerva did nor what your future self did, so why would we?" Cana interrupted. "But I do need to know one thing."

He swallowed hard as she stepped closer, her eyes narrowing. "And what would that be?" He asked hesitantly.

"Cana, be nice." Levy warned.

"I wanna know what your intentions are for Lucy."

Lucy abruptly choked, swallowing wrong worrying Natsu and he moved to smack her back, asking if she was alright. She couldn't believe Cana would just come out and word it like that, but then again this is Cana she was talking about. She smiled weakly at Natsu and waved his hands away saying she was ok as she craned her neck, trying to hear his response.

"Cana! You can't just come out and ask something like that!" Levy hissed, but secretly relieved she didn't have to dance around the subject.

"Why not? It's what everyone is wondering and if I don't like what he says I'm getting the boys on his ass."

"I'm sure he's not thinking of anything bad Cana." Levy frowned and noticed Rogue relax somewhat seeing her come to his defense.

"Well that's for him to tell me not you, so how about you tell me what you want with her hmm?"

Lucy could see Rogue tensing up as he shifted his weight and she braced herself, leaning over more and more trying to see and hear. 'Just a bit more and I'll...'

"CANA!"

"EEK!" Lucy shrieked falling off her stool worrying Natsu and Happy again, they leaned over the table to glance down at her with twin frowns.

"You're sure acting funny today Luce." Natsu muttered.

"Aye, weirder than usual!" Happy shouted.

"Oh shut up you damn cat!" She huffed as she scrambled to her feet and glanced to where Rogue had been only to see Gray standing by himself.

"But… where?" She swiveled her head around frantically.

"Luce, you feeling ok? Maybe you'd better go home and lay down." Natsu insisted as he felt her head only for her to swat his hand away and grumble as she stalked back to the kitchen.

Lucy zeroed in on Levy who was stirring the pot of stew and made a beeline for her.

"Levy, what did he say?" She whispered.

Lucy frowned as Levy tensed and gave her a sheepish smile. "Yeah, he never got the chance to answer when Mira butted in to yell at Cana for completely consuming all the alcohol we had specially ordered for the party."

Lucy slumped in defeat. "You've gotta be kidding me."

Levy frowned and nodded sadly. "I'm sorry Lu."

Lucy rubbed her temples and sighed. "It's not your fault Levy. Seems like everything in the universe is against me lately. I Guess I'll have to just find out for myself."

Levy's eyes widened. "Oh Lucy, you shouldn't do that."

"Why?" She asked confused. She'd been on board with that plan before, what changed now?

Levy faltered, her eyes darting around wildly. "W-well because… because..."

"Lucy."

Both girls jumped with a shriek and turned to see Erza with a knowing look to her face.

Lucy smiled faintly at her teammate as her heart still thudded in her ears. "Yes Erza, what can I do for you?"

"Mira asked me to make the gingerbread men, but I've never done those before and since I know you're a great cook I was wondering if you'd help me?"

"Of course I'll help you Erza." Lucy nodded, forgetting all about her earlier dilemma as she followed the redhead to her station. Erza turned back to give Levy a look before listening to Lucy's instructions. Levy bit her lip as Mira gave her the same look and a nod. 'Oh why does everything have to be so complicated?' Levy wailed to herself, her eyes on her best friends back.

* * *

><p>Lucy sighed as she slumped back against her door. "What a day." She muttered.<p>

"And I still don't know what's going on!" She shouted. Peeling off her outer layers she made her way into the living room glumly, thinking that she would sit there and admire the tree for a while and maybe she'd feel better.

She plopped onto the sofa and stretched with a yawn, only to freeze seeing something sitting on her coffee table that she knew hadn't been there in the morning. Reaching over she grabbed it and studied the object. "It's a music box, but not one of mine." She turned the key and listened as the gentle sounds of the dance of the sugar plum fairy played for a moment with a smile until she noticed a piece of paper that had been taped to the bottom of the box. Lucy unfolded the paper and scanned the words.

"You're like the sweetest music to my soul." She murmured, the words bringing smile to her face as the music box continued to play for her. She rested her head against the back of the couch, her eyes met the warm glow of the tree and suddenly her worries felt like they'd never been there in the first place. She still wanted to know who it was giving her these wonderful gifts, but it no longer felt like an obsession. Maybe all this fretting was doing nothing more than adding to her stress and the thought of taking Mira's advice sounded more and more like a better idea.

Worrying endlessly over something she can't control would just drive her crazy and she wanted to be having fun during this time with Rogue and Frosch instead of driving herself mad. It's not like she could control what was going to happen anyways.

"It's time to quit focusing on myself and to make sure this is the best Christmas I can give those two." She mumbled as her eyes grew heavy, her eyes never straying from the twinkling lights on the tree.

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><p>(¯`¥´¯`·.¸.:¨NIchiki ¨:.¸.·´¯`¥´¯)<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

Yuletide Lessons

Chapter 13

December 23rd

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><p>Lucy subtly adjusted her pantyhose as she gripped the boxes in her other hand, praying no one would catch her in the act as the hose was severly riding up where it sure as heck wasn't supposed to. She didn't remember this costume being so constricting the year before, but now she was seriously wondering just how much weight she'd put on over the course of one year. Mentally grumbling at her uncomfortable outfit she quickly put a smile on her face as the doors of the orphanage were flung open, followed by multiple cries of happiness.<p>

"Someone order a Santa complete with a feast and gifts?!" Makarov bellowed and chuckled as a swarm of children swamped him, all chattering excitedly.

"Now, now no pushing you guys. We've got things for everyone." Mira cooed, a beaming smile plastered on her face. She loved kids with a passion and looked forward to this every year.

"Natsu, can you and some of the other guys set the tree up in the corner and then line the boxes of decorations along the wall beside it?"

"No problem Mira, we're on it!" Natsu and Happy saluted her and helped bring in a rather large looking tree, followed by a mountain of boxes.

"Oh wow, look how big that tree is!"

"Yeah, it's way bigger then the one from last year!"

"I wanna do the lights!"

"Can I help set up the food?"

Lucy laughed softly as she helped carry boxes in and opened them to set the food out for their big dinner.

Rogue helped her bring most of the boxes in and stayed relatively glued to her side, which she didn't miss for a second. Frosch was happily zipping around the kids, delighting in their excited squeals.

As the girls moved to open the boxes and set out the food, Lucy turned to look at Rogue, who seemed to be shifting from foot to foot uneasily, his eyes busy darting here and there looking like the slightest movement would send him running.

"Rogue?"

He jumped slightly and she frowned. "Yes Lucy?"

"You ok? You seem really uncomfortable."

He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'm not uncomfortable."

She narrowed her eyes and leaned in closer, seeing his eyes widen in return and studied him for a few moments before sighing softly.

"Rogue it's ok if you haven't been around kids before, I was the same way a few years ago, but if you don't learn to relax then the kids will pick up on that."

He frowned in return, his eyes scanning the bouncing children around them apprehensively. "I don't wish to make them uncomfortable with my presence."

She smiled and poked his cheek, startling him making her laugh. "Then relax and smile. They're just kids, they won't eat you alive… if you give them enough candy that is."

At his panicked face she tried to squash the smile but it came out along with another giggle. "Oh don't worry I'm only kidding. These kids are the sweetest in existence, so there's nothing to be worried about."

"Miss Wucy?" A little wobbly voice rose up from around their knees drawing their attention. A little chubby hand was latched onto her skirt as the bluest eyes Rogue had ever seen blinked up at them.

He was taken aback at just how much she looked like Lucy, with her little blonde curls framing her pudgy little cheeks and if not for the blue eyes he could've sworn she was her little sister.

"Oh Hanna, there you are!" Lucy squealed, scooping up the little girl and twirling her around, making the little girl shout with delight. She brought her in for a tight hug and leaned back to study her face intently. "How have you been sweetie? Is your cold all gone? Where's your brother?"

Rogue had to smile at the rapidly fired questions and as he watched their interactions that warm feeling bloomed within his chest again. He found himself wondering if one of Lucy's children would look like this little one, but instead of blue, perhaps a deep red pair of eyes that would look at him in adoration. He cleared his throat and pushed that thought aside for a later time only to jump when he felt a tugging on his pants. He looked down curiously, wondering if he'd snagged his pants on something when a pair hazel eyes blinked up at him. He tilted his head and studied the child, noticing his sandy colored hair lay haphazardly over a chubby face much similar to Hanna's.

"Oh there you are Matty!" Lucy's voice broke through his thoughts as she kneeled down to engulf the little boy in a hug also. "I see you've met Rogue." Matty nodded timidly as she ruffled his hair softly. "Why is your hair so long? It looks like you haven't gotten it cut in ages." She frowned.

Matty seemed to sense her displeasure and clung to Rogues leg which confused him more and made him shift. He'd never really interacted with children before, except for Frosch and Lector, so he had no experience and really didn't know how to react when the little boy plastered himself to his leg.

"Matty always hid when Father Gewald said it was time for a haiwcut." Hanna piped up from beside Lucy.

Lucy sighed, smiling softly at the boy. "How come you don't want your hair cut Matty? You've had it done before remember?"

Matty's eyes scrunched and he frowned as he shook his head.

"Matty doesn't want to have anyone else cut his haiw, but yaw spiwit." Hanna stated proudly, and turned to him. "Wight Matty?"

Matty nodded his head timidly, his hand clutching harder to Rogue.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Ok if that's what you want then that's what we'll do." She held her arms out for him, but he only clung tighter to Rogue.

"I think he wants to stay with Wogue."

"Seems like it," Lucy whispered. "Do you want Rogue to carry you then?"

With another nod she stood and faced the still confused man, whose leg was still being held captive with a smile.

"You think you can carry him so we can give him a haircut?" Rogue's eyes went decidedly wide and she could see he was starting to panic quietly, so she grabbed his arm firmly and made him focus on her instead.

"Rogue, it's ok." She soothed and noticed as he relaxed somewhat. "It's just like carrying around Fro, so if you think of Matty as her it should help. But you don't have to if you don't want to." She bit her lip and looked down at the pair of kids beside them. "I've just never seen Matty gravitate towards anyone before like this and he's clearly taken with you. It even took me ages for him to willingly stay around me."

Once again Rogue's eyebrows rose as he looked down.

From what he could tell, these two were related and while his sister was the more outgoing one the boy was clearly more introverted and he wondered what had caused his closed off personality. It must have been something significant to land them both in an orphanage and something inside of him squeezed his heart painfully at the thought of them being similar. He hadn't had a sibling to cling to though, and that was something the boy had in his favor, but whatever had happened made the boy recede into himself almost as a protection against the world around him. The fact that this little one chose him to approach and looked up at him with trust took him aback but he hadn't the heart to refuse a comforting touch to this tortured soul. So if he wished to be held by him, then he couldn't refuse such a request.

He squared his shoulders and caught Lucy's eyes with a uncertain but determined smile and nodded.

"I believe I can do that." He hunched down and the boy stared at him in awe, almost as if he had been waiting for him to brush him off and timidly lifted his little arms. With the thought of the boy being similar to Fro had him relaxing as he put his hands around Matty's waist and lifted him, standing up to full height. Matty immediately latched onto his body and he shifted him to the side trying to mimic Lucy's actions as she hoisted Hanna in her arms, leading them to a nearby bathroom. Lucy grabbed a chair and set it in the center of the room as she set Hanna down to sift through her keys. "Go ahead and set him on the chair and I'll summon Cancer."

"Alright." Rogue replied, shifting the boy to set him on the chair only to pause when the boy refused to let go, instead he clung tighter, which was a feat onto himself. Vaguely, he was impressed with the youngsters strength as he tried to coax his arms to let go. Rogue frowned and Hanna seemed to notice as she came closer.

"He doesn't wanna sit on the chaiw by himself."

Rogue tilted his head and studied the little girl standing before him. It was like she was his interpreter and he wondered how she knew exactly what the boy wanted, only to be interrupted by Lucy's words.

"They're twins, that's how she knows what he wants." She laughed seeing his incredulous expression. "What? Sometimes I can tell what you're thinking. You have these distinct looks you give when you're confused or thinking too hard."

Lucy approached with a soft smile and laid a hand on Matty's back, the action made him relax somewhat against Rogue and again the dragon slayer marveled at how comfortable she made the ones around her with the simplest of actions.

"Don't worry sweetie. You don't have to sit on the chair by yourself. Rogue can continue to hold you while Cancer cuts your hair, it will just be a little more stuff to work around but he's good at what he does." She turned her eyes to his red ones.

"Would that be ok with you?"

Like he could ever tell her no, he mused silently. "I think that's fine." Matty shifted to look up at him and he offered the boy a small smile as he sat on the chair and shifted the child to face outward, until Lucy stopped him suddenly.

"Wait wait, turn him back around to face you!" Rogue turned him back around confused.

"Perfect, now Cancer won't have to work that hard."

Hazel eyes looked up at him as little fists clenched onto his shirt, making his lips quirk in amusement and he nodded, suddenly seeing just how it was going to work.

"Ready?" Lucy whispered and with a slight nod from the boy she brought the key out. "Open gate of the giant crab Cancer!" She waved the key with flourish and with a flash of light stood her spirit, brandishing his scissors.

"Need a haircut, baby?"

Lucy nodded and gestured towards the pair sitting on the chair.

"Remember our friend Matty? He needs a cut."

The spirits eyes shifted to the boy and grinned. "No problem, baby."

Rogue had to hand it to the spirit, he never blinked at the weird way they were sitting, just immediately set to work. But then again he was probably constantly summoned into weirder situations, so this wouldn't faze him one bit.

"See, nothing to be scared of Matty." Lucy whispered, leaning in towards the boy, which brought her close to him as well.

Matty nodded with a small smile, which brought a surprised gasp from Lucy as she turned to look at Rogue. "He really likes you Rogue, don't you Matty?"

"All done baby!"

"Thanks Cancer, excellent job!"

With a bow and a flash he disappeared leaving the group.

"Wanna see?" Lucy asked and with a nod she gently turned him in Rogues lap to face the mirror. His hair was neatly cut, no longer shading his eyes from the world as they all stared into the mirror.

"Ok!" Lucy clapped her hands. " You guys hungry?" Both children nodded in response. "Well then lets go back out there and have some dinner you guys."

With Matty still in his arms and Hanna hanging onto Lucy's hand they returned to the main room, finding the tree halfway done and the food all spread out.

"Lucy, Fro found you!" Fro zipped up close to the blond.

"What's up Fro? Need something?"

"Fro found a gift for you mixed in with the ones for the kids."

Lucy faltered. "Oh, really?"

"Yup. Here ya go." She thrust the package into her hands and circled Rogue as she excitedly asked him questions about Matty, while the child's eyes stayed glued to the cat.

Lucy sighed, turning the package over in her hands.

"Wucy?"

Lucy kneeled down to Hanna's height. "Yeah Hanna?"

"Awe you gonna open it?"

"Yeah, open it Lucy!" Fro piped up.

Lucy smiled weakly and nodded. "Ok, I'll open it for you guys." Fully aware that Rogue's eyes were trained upon her.

She peeled back the wrapping and frowned seeing a puzzle piece, only one with half a heart. But try as she might she couldn't find a paper with this one and that only gave her more questions.

"How come thewe's only one piece?" Hanna questioned.

"There isn't a note with this one either." Her eyes looked to Rogue and he shrugged. With a sigh she tucked the piece away for scrutiny later and focused back on her little friends.

"Come on, let's get you some of Mira's yummy food."

As they ate, both kids sitting in their laps she turned to Rogue with a smile.

"See? This wasn't so bad right?" Her elbow bumped into his slightly.

"Yes, this was quite the experience." He replied, knowing this would stick in his mind for a long time to come.

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><p>(¯`¥´¯`·.¸.:¨NIchiki ¨:.¸.·´¯`¥´¯)<p> 


	14. Chapter 14

Yuletide Lessons

Chapter 14

December 24th

* * *

><p>Lucy and Rogue both slumped onto her couch with a chorus of sighs. With a yawn she thought back on their busy day.<p>

The whole day had consisted of running around Magnolia picking up last minute things for the party the next day. Rogue couldn't believe all the people running around grabbing things desperately and said as much out loud.

"These are what we call 'Last Minute People'. They wait until the last minute and scramble to get everything they need and pretty much run around like chickens with their head chopped off." She let out a laugh at Rogue and Fro's scrunched faces.

"So, instead of shopping ahead of time they put it off and rush around like this? I don't see how that makes sense." Rogue said confused.

Lucy shrugged as she grabbed a few gallons of milk. "That's just how some people are I guess. Whereas I plan ahead and make lists before December even rolls around. The whole running around bit would just drive me up the wall and there's no guarantee that whatever you want they'll even have this close to Christmas."

Fro yelped and zipped off the ground to avoid being trampled by a crowd of people.

"Geez, some people." Lucy muttered, patting Fro's head as she plopped on the blonde's shoulder, still shaking from almost being squished. "Just stay up here Fro, you'll be much safer."

After fighting the sea of crazed shoppers for a couple of hours they lugged the last minute items to the guild, dropped them off and headed back to Lucy's.

"It's amazing," She wheezed out, her voice muffled by the pillow on her face.

"How exhausting it is shopping."

"I doubt it helped much that we had to fight a mob of people with every step." Rogue grunted from the other side of the couch.

"Fro thinks those people were scarier than Erza's mad face." The exceed had flopped on the top of the couch.

A snort could be heard under Lucy's pillow. "That's for sure. I'd take a dozen angry Erza's over that mob any day, and that's sayin' something."

The soft glow of the tree in the corner lulled the trio into a state of drowsiness and all were content to just lay there for a while.

Subtly Lucy shifted the pillow on her face to uncover an eye and observed the comatose slayer across from her. It said just how tired he was that he'd dropped off fairly quickly, but she knew even when he was asleep, he was on alert to anything moving around him. From the angle his head was turned she could see his profile somewhat, but he'd thrown his arm over his face, blocked most of the upper half.

Her eyes darted down to his lips, that were parted softly as he exhaled with every breath. They looked so soft, inviting, and she wondered if he would jerk awake if she were to touch them, to see for herself just how smooth they were. She clutched onto the pillow and bit her lip holding herself back from attacking the poor man in his sleep, she'd doubt he'd appreciate that too much and probably would think she was nuts.

So she contented herself to study his features silently. The soft lines that were usually hard in the daylight hours reflected the twinkling lights and bathed him in almost an otherworldly glow. Even as relaxed as he was, totally at ease there was still an underlying feeling that he would spring into action at any moment and she supposed that was ingrained within the dragon slayers from their childhood.

She couldn't imagine how it would be losing not only one set of parents, but to also lose the one who had taken him in as well. He'd not told her much of his past, and she refused to pry knowing how hard it was to relive those memories; as relivng her own opened old wounds. Lucy refused to do the same to anyone else. Silently she vowed that if he ever wanted to talk she would listen, and lend a shoulder for him to lean on, literally or figuratively should he need it.

That mothering instinct always seemed to rear its head around people she could tell hadn't had the best childhood and she figured that with what she'd experienced, as little as it was, helped her to sympathize with people and understand them better. Even as a little girl she was drawn to people who needed help or seemed sad and her mother had commented on that, calling her a Little Angel of Mercy. Lucy had asked her mother once what she meant by that.

* * *

><p>"Well sweetie, some people have an inherent ability to help people even without saying anything at all."<p>

"How does that work momma?"

Layla shrugged with a fond smile on her face. "It's just one of those mysteries in life that doesn't make sense and yet it makes perfect sense."

Lucy frowned, confused even more.

"Don't worry about it my love." Layla cooed, threading her hands through Lucy's blonde curls. "That just means you are very special and you're able to help the people around you. My little angel."

* * *

><p>Lucy shifted against the cushions and sat up slowly to lay her head against the back of the couch facing Rogue.<p>

"I want to be there for you, Rogue." She reached out, her fingers gently touching the ends of his hair. "But, will you let me? Do you even see me the way I see you? Or am I just another face in the crowd?" She sighed softly, clutching the pillow to her chest. "I want to be more to you, but will you let me? Can I be your Angel of Mercy?"

Lucy sighed as she stood up and headed into the kitchen to get some cookies out. She never saw the red eye cracked open to watch her as she left the room, nor the soft smile that her words had brought.

It was a few minutes before Fro fluttered into the room, rubbing her eyes.

"Lucy, whatcha doin?"

"Just getting some cookies for me and putting some on a plate for Santa when he comes."

"How come?" She tilted her head confused.

"Well it's a tradition for people to put out a plate of cookies and milk for him."

"Ohh. Can Fro help?"

"Sure, you put which cookies you want him to have on a plate and I'll get the milk."

Lucy set out a plate decorated with poinsettias for Fro and pushed the cookies towards the cat. She kept her eyes on her as she poured the milk with a smile watching as she carefully placed each cookie precisely, making sure to pick out the best looking ones.

She watched as Fro studied the plate for a moment and turned towards her. "Did Fro do good?"

"It looks beautiful. Now we'll go put these on the coffee table for Santa."

Fro picked up the plate and hovered next to the blonde as they made their way into the living room, setting down the goodies gently.

"What are you two up to?" Rogue's voice cut through the quiet making them both jump slightly.

"Fro made a snack for Santa." She stated proudly, puffing her chest out.

"Oh did you?" He leaned forward inspecting the cookies, pretending to look over it with a critical eye before turning back towards the cat with a small smile.

"I'm sure he'll love it." Fro jumped up with a squeal and hugged his neck. His arm came up to pat her back as Lucy watched them with a fond smile, her eyes darted down to the table only to spot something she hadn't noticed before.

"What the? I thought I had that in my coat pocket." She murmured.

"What?" Rogue asked.

Lucy stood up to venture into the kitchen only to return a few minutes later and kneeled down to place the puzzle piece on the table right next to the one she found.

"It's different from that one." Rogue mused. "Look there's writing on the back of the other one."

She picked it up and turned it over.

"You complete me." She turned it back over and put the two pieces together, noticing as they interlocked that they made a complete heart.

"That's sweet." She whispered. "But I'm sure that wasn't there before." She eyed the room and her gaze landed on Rogue, only for him to shrug.

"I was asleep, so I didn't notice if it was there when we got here or not."

She nodded, but something still bugged her about this situation. Granted, they had been pretty exhausted and not paid too much attention when they'd gotten back so it could've been there. But the question still remained, how did they get it there in the first place. Lucy blew out a sigh in exasperation, so many questions and no answers in sight.

Rogue stood and stretched with a yawn. "I think it's time we go Frosch." He made his way into the kitchen with Fro on his heels and Lucy bringing up the rear.

"We'll see you at the Fairy Tail Christmas party right?" She asked softly as she opened the door for them.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world." He replied with a smile and a wave. "Have a goodnight Lucy."

"Night Lucy!" Fro shouted.

Lucy watched until they were both out of sight before she shut her door and slumped against it. She could only hope this mystery would be solved once and for all at the party, because she had a few things she wished to say to this mystery person. She'd done some long thinking and come to a conclusion, one her heart had urged her to make and she was determined to stick to it no matter what. But life had a way of throwing her curve balls so she couldn't say for sure how everything would turn out, she just hoped all her questions would be answered, because she had a lot of them.

* * *

><p>(¯`¥´¯`·.¸.:¨NIchiki ¨:.¸.·´¯`¥´¯)<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

Yuletide Lessons

Chapter 15

December 25th

* * *

><p>The Fairy Tail Christmas party was in full swing and mages from all over were invited to join the fun. Looking around the room Lucy spotted people from Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale and of course a few from Sabertooth. As per tradition with anything involving Fairy Tail the air was filled with laughter and scattered happy chaos, but anyone within the guild would have it no other way.<p>

The blonde sighed happily as she saw many familiar faces among the crowd, waving and offering hellos as she walked the room. It was always bittersweet to her, the fact that after Christmas was the end of the year, but then remembered that a brand new year was coming right behind that. Every year her wish was the same; to protect and keep safe the ones she holds dear, and perhaps to win the lottery.

Music filled the air, along with various scents of cinnamon and peppermint bursting from the bubbles floating around. Juvia and Gray had worked out some magic to produce bubbles and snow flakes that when they popped produced colorful sparkles and the lovely smells filling the air. She couldn't help but smile at just how beautiful everything looked, the lights twinkling on the huge tree, the boughs of holly decorating the walls, the garland twisted around those, and of course the strategically placed mistletoe courtesy of Mirajane. Lucy took her time to note the positions and sidestepped them, not wanting to be pulled into a trap by the she-devil. Her mind however kept side tracking as she kept an eye out for somebody she didn't recognize, or someone paying too much attention to her. She slumped back against the wall with a frown and wondered if perhaps she was overreacting to everything, but every now and then she could feel someone's eyes on her. And not randomly either. No, this was deliberate. But every time she turned around the feeling would disappear suddenly and would only leave her more frustrated than before.

"Lu, how are you doing?" Levy whispered as she came to stand beside her.

"Oh, I'm alright. I just can't seem to focus on anything tonight."

"Still haven't found your mystery guy?" She leaned in closer.

Lucy blew out a frustrated sigh. "No, I haven't noticed anyone that I don't know, but I do feel like someone's keeping their eyes on me."

"So, it sounds like they are getting ready to approach you then, because it seems like they are waiting for the perfect time." Levy reasoned.

"Yeah, but I wish I could just get this over with."

"Alright everybody it's time to open presents!" Mira shouted.

"Come on Levy, you and I were picked to hand out the gifts." Lucy pushed off the wall and made her way to the tree.

With the help of most of the girls, they handed out the gifts and sat down to tear into their own.

"Oh awesome Luce! These chocolates are so good! Thank you!" Natsu shouted.

"Ooooh free fish for a year! Lucy you're so awesome!" Happy cried out, tears running down his face clutching his first fish.

"The armor you bought are simply splendid Lucy, I thank you." Erza said with a warm smile and a hug for the blonde.

"Oh my gosh this coat is incredible. Dude, look at these boxers!" Gray shouted sporting his new underwear.

"Gray no stripping for goodness sakes!"

"Aww come on Mira just this once, you gotta see what these boxers can do!"

The words were barely out of his mouth when the boxers flew across the room making everyone groan and the girls yelp covering their eyes, only for the underwear to reappear back on the Ice Mage in a flash.

"Woah, those are pretty darn handy."

"Well at least we won't be subjected to his perviness for very long anymore," Natsu shouted, laughing loudly.

"Shut up Flame brain!"

"Make me Ice Princess!"

A collective sigh rose along the crowd and they parted as the two started throwing fists. Lucy looked amongst the discarded wrapping paper, trying to find a forgotten present for her.

'Why isn't there another one?'

"Lucy," A voice interrupted her actions and she turned to see Rogue sporting his new cloak proudly.

"Oh Rogue, it looks amazing on you." She smiled fondly at him.

"Thank you Lucy. I've never gotten anything quite like this before."

Fro zipped into her sight and latched onto her neck. "Fro thanks you for her Rogue doll. Fro will take very good care of him." The exceed zipped off looking for Happy to show off her new toy.

"You don't know how much all this means to the both of us Lucy." Rogue whispered.

She blushed, waving her hands in the air. "Oh it's no big deal. I'm just glad your first Christmas was a fun one."

"Regardless of what you may think, you did something no one else had and we thank you for it."

"You're very welcome then Rogue."

"By the way Lucy, did you see you've got one more gift under the tree for you?"

"No, it probably got shoved to the back of the tree under all this sea of wrapping paper." She laughed, but was intensely nervous as Rogue pulled out the package and handed it to her.

Unwrapping it she sees a piece of paper, but as she goes to read it notices there isn't anything written on it. She turned it over and frowned. "Why is it blank?"

Rogue moves to her side and hands her a book cover silently. "Because, there are no words on any page to describe just what you mean to me."

Lucy stood there frozen for what felt like an eternity, her mouth agape in disbelief.

"Y-you mean it was you? This whole time all these wonderful gifts were from you?" She whispered knowing the whole guild was silent and watching the scene.

He nodded and gently lifted her hand to fold within his own. "I admit I had no clue what to get you for Christmas, so I enlisted a few of your friends to help," He smiled. "I thought I'd send you some small gifts, each from the heart telling you my feelings for you to get you used to the idea."

Tears gathered in her eyes as she stood there in front of her family, the warm feeling bloomed within her chest expanding to such a degree she was afraid she would explode happiness all around the guild, only to be rudely interrupted by Natsu and Gray from the sidelines.

"Hey, who said you could give our Lucy gifts like that?" Natsu shouted balling up his fists.

"Just what's your aim with all this Rogue?" Gray asked seriously, still only clad in his boxers. "Because if you're not serious we won't let you get close to her."

Rogue turned and squared his shoulders, his fingers lacing with Lucy's tighter as he faced the threat head on, knowing that this had been coming and was glad Erza and Mira thought to warn him about it beforehand. "I wish for nothing more than to be by her side and to make her happy, if she accepts."

Narrowing their eyes they stalked up to the dragon slayer and the room held their breath wondering if a tremendous fight was going to break out over this. Everyone knew just how protective Team Natsu was over the blonde.

"Hey you two, don't I have any say in this!"

Lucy tried to push between them thinking it was going to end badly but Rogue gently steered her behind him.

"Let me handle this Lucy," He said softly, and explained further before she could take offense. "They will never let me be by your side until I can prove to them that I am strong enough to defend you, I have to prove to them I am willing to be your strength."

She nodded reluctantly and stepped back, but made sure to clutch onto his cloak to keep him close to her. She would defend him from them if needed. Natsu and Gray stopped within a few feet and stared intensely at the young man. The usual routine would be the guy would cower and back down when faced with both formidable mages, but none had the strength and conviction this one did. Rogue stood straighter and his gaze never wavered. He would prove to them he could protect should she need it, he wasn't going to back down.

"If she accepts me I will do everything in my power to make her smile everyday. She will want for nothing because I will see that she always has everything she could ever wish for and should I ever make her cry I will do my utmost to make it up to her and more. I humbly ask you to let me make her happy for she is my guiding star in the night sky and without her I am lost."

Both boys stood there speechless, neither knowing how to respond, the guild still held their breath in anticipation, but after Gramps cleared his throat they snapped out of it and nodded dumbly.

"Treat her right Rogue, or we'll make you regret it." Gray said with an evil smirk. Rogue nodded and turned to Natsu who had yet to say anything.

Natsu stalked up to Rogue and pushed his face into his, his eyes narrowed and he inhaled deep before relaxing somewhat and a soft smile played on his face. "Your scent says your words are true and I know your intentions are honorable, but know this, if you do make her cry you won't have to be afraid of our reaction." He smirked at the confused look on the young mans face before Natsu continued. "I'd be more afraid of what she will do to you. Lucy is a force to be reckoned with, take care of her, she's family."

Laughter broke out around them as Lucy's face turned red with anger.

"Natsu!?" She shouted.

Natsu jumped back out of reach and laughed. "See? I think she can handle herself just fine."

"Damn right I can!" She came to stand next to Rogue and he pulled her aside as Gramps ushered people away.

"Ok brats nothing more to see here, quit staring at the poor couple, you'll make them nervous."

They both stood there, not quite knowing what to say or do.

"Did you really mean all that?" She whispered, her fingers tracing a scale along his cloak absently.

"Every word and more Lucy." He replied without hesitation.

She was silent for a few moments, her eyes studying his face and then launched herself at him with a cry of joy as he caught her in his arms. He buried his nose in her hair and inhaled deeply, clutching her body to his tightly relishing the moment. The feel of her in his arms made him relax and the familiar warmth bloom in his chest.

"I think Santa heard my Christmas wish." She whispered and he pulled back to stare into her deep brown eyes.

"What wish was that?" He asked.

"I wished to make you happy."

"Oh? Well I think my wish came true also."

"What did you wish for?

He smiled softly, brushing his lips over hers. "To hold my very own star in my arms and never let her go." He leaned in closer and suddenly stopped with a small smirk on his face, confusing the blond. But as he untied his cloak and draped it over both their bodies shielding them from view she had to let out a laugh. It was better then making out in front of everyone thats for sure. "And I never intend to, my star, my Angel of Mercy."

She laughed softly, pressing her lips to his firmly. "I started this to teach you about Christmas and yet, I think you've taught me more in return. This was the best Christmas ever."

"There will be many more to come." He pulled her in for another lingering kiss. "I promise.

* * *

><p>AN: And there we have it.<p>

I hope you all loved reading it as much as I loved writing it.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

(¯`¥´¯`·.¸.:¨NIchiki ¨:.¸.·´¯`¥´¯)


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